ROANOKE, Va. – Two crisis centers designed to help people experiencing mental health emergencies and crises will open in Southwest Virginia in 2025.
Blue Ridge Behavioral Health opens in Hollins. It is open 24 hours a day to anyone who voluntarily seeks assistance, and some may stay for up to 23 hours.
Walk-in patients are also welcome, and there are approximately 12 beds available.
Mandy Lee, Marcus Alert Director of Blue Ridge Behavioral Health, said the center was opened because behavioral health numbers have increased over the past few decades.
“People come to need support. People need a place to go to trained professionals who can help them when they need it. , so we want to be able to provide them with that support and meet those needs,” Lee said.
Lee also said it will help free up hospital beds and provide an alternative place for someone to stay.
At the new facility, on-duty police officers will be able to drop off people who a court has determined requires hospitalization because they are a danger to themselves or others. This is known as an emergency protection order. Typically, a police officer must stay with the person until a hospital bed becomes available. But the new facility will allow on-duty officers to hand over custody of a person to off-duty officers trained to respond to people in behavioral health crises.
Marcus Alert units will also be stationed at the new center, which opens in 2025. Lee said this is the state’s response to the police shootings in the Richmond area. She said Marcus Alert’s goal is to provide a behavioral health response to behavioral health crises. Lee said there are a number of factors.
“One is 911 to 988 call forwarding, so if a caller calls 911 today, dispatchers can identify their needs based on a four-level system: four-level emergency triage. We can offer certain callers a transfer to 988, where they can speak to a clinician who can help with their needs.We also don’t dispatch a police officer, so we can tailor the call to 988 to meet your needs. We can respond accordingly,” Lee said.
She said if the person requires an in-person response, police officers and co-response therapists can be sent together to provide the best response for the person.
Horizon Behavioral also plans to open a crisis reception center in the Lynchburg area in 2025.
Horizon Behavioral Health has helped approximately 12,000 people so far this year, and some of its services include case management and outpatient treatment.
The new center, set to open next year, will allow anyone experiencing a mental health emergency or crisis to come and be monitored for up to 23 hours.
Some of our services include drug and alcohol detox and mental health evaluations.
Horizon said the new crisis reception center is a 16-bed facility and expects to be able to help thousands of people.
“We want to make sure that we give our community the tools and support they need, and I think we do. I think we’re doing the best we can and our We want to make sure our community has access to the services they need,” said Horizon Behavioral Health CEO Melissa Lucy.
The new crisis reception center will allow on-duty police officers to hand over custody of those with emergency custody orders to off-duty police officers trained to work with people in behavioral health crises. You can also do it.
Virginia State Sen. Mark Peek was at Horizon last week to inspect construction progress on the new center.
Peek said this will help get officers back on the streets.
“When you have one or two of them sitting in the hospital with a mentally ill patient, there’s no one patrolling the streets, and when an emergency call comes in, there are fewer people to respond, and that’s when response time increases.” “This could lead to delays,” Peek said.
Horizon said the new crisis reception center will also help with Virginia’s hospital bed shortage and allow people to stay in their home communities so family members can visit.
Copyright 2024 by WSLS 10 – All rights reserved.
