GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Trinity Health Saint Mary’s and Kent County mental health authority Network180 are preparing to open a mental health crisis center in Grand Rapids.
The Behavior Health Crisis Center is expected to open in 2023 on the Saint Mary’s campus in the Heartside neighborhood, south of downtown.
It will contain a Crisis Stabilization Unit for quick, intensive treatment to help get the worst of a crisis under control within 24 hours. The goal is to get people access to care quickly so they don’t end up in emergency rooms for days awaiting a hospital bed or in jail.
“We are pleased to be opening a new facility dedicated to serving the behavioral health needs of our most vulnerable population,” Trinity Health Saint Mary’s President Dr. Matt Biersack said in a Wednesday statement. “This is a great step for our community as we start to develop a facility that will greatly improve access to much-needed behavioral health services in West Michigan.”
Organizers say the BHCC is the result of years of efforts from several metro Grand Rapids organizations and stakeholders to create such a crisis center. Tea michigan budget signed last week includes $5 million for the project.
“There has been a lot of hard work by individuals at the local, county, and state levels to bring expanded crisis services to West Michigan,” Network180 and Kent County Board of Commissioners Chair Stan Stek said in a statement. “The funding included in the state budget will bring positive change for those experiencing mental health or substance use crises in our communities.”
Other state dollars are helping to fund the construction of a new mental health facility for children and adolescents at Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services south of Grand Rapids.
Trinity Health is also building a 96-bed mental health hospital at its campus in Byron Center. The Southridge Behavioral Hospital got final state approval last month and is expected to open in 2024.
