GREENSBORO, N.C. — Mental health issues don't get better on their own, in fact ignoring them could lead to a person harming themselves or others.
Through a first of its kind behavioral health crisis center, Guilford County hopes to bridge the gap in mental health care.
The 60,000 square foot Greensboro facility keeps folks with mental challenges out of hospitals and emergency rooms, and into a place that provides short term care and resources.
Guilford County commissioner Alan Perdue said this keeps people from being pushed from one place to another, often leading to people not getting the help they need.
“The way behavioral health was being administered was problematic. There was not one place to go to get the answer to ‘how do I receive those service? What’s needed?,” Perdue said. “We looked at the model set forth by our family justice center here In the county and said we need to replicate that from a behavioral health stand point.”
Through a county collaboration with Cone Health, Sandhills and the Alexander Youth Network they were able to create a first of its kind model in North Carolina to reduce the barrier in mental health care.
What makes the campus like center unique is it puts mental and physical health services under one roof.
The site has a mental health urgent care center, on site pharmacy and substance abuse services.
Two 16 bed crisis centers, one for adults and the other for children are open to its guests.
Folks can stay at the facility for up to 5 days.
“My passion is that we need to have a holistic approach in patient care and what does that mean, having behavioral health and physical health in a one stop place,” said Dr. Archana Kumar psychiatrist with Cone Health. “And that’s where this center comes into place.”
Commissioner Perdue said the one stop frees up other vital resources in the county.
“We were spending a lot of money on resources at the emergency room from both an EMS stand point and a law enforcement stand point and most times on very minor medical needs,” Perdue said. “By treating both the physical and metal health capabilities we could reduce the time police have to sit inside the emergency department.”
The 931 Third Street site opens in phases.
The adult center opened Monday.
They’ll welcome youth services in the next two weeks.
The county says they expect to see about 4,000 patients walk through the centers door a year.
“If we detect people with anxiety and depression earlier on in life, we’ll have better out comes,” Dr. Kumar said.
The $28 million complex also offers out-patient services.
This facility is open to not just people in Guilford County but anyone in the Triad 24 hours, seven days a week.