CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Horizon opening mental health 'crisis stabilization' facility near downtown

The Hutchinson News - 1/9/2022

Jan. 8—Local mental health officials hope to open a new eight-bed adult "crisis stabilization center" near downtown by mid-April.

Designed to help adults in a mental health crisis in Hutchinson, the center will potentially keep them out of jail or a state mental hospital.

The Hutchinson City Council on Tuesday approved rezoning the former Reno Learning Center property at 311 W. Second Ave., across from The Hutchinson News, from industrial to commercial zoning to enable a residential use.

The property, owned by HIEB & Associates and once a self-storage and printing business, is already being remodeled, including adding fire-rated walls for the bedrooms, egress windows and a fire sprinkler system.

"This is going to be an eight-bed facility for adults, both men and women, who are at risk of harming themselves or others due to a mental illness and psychotic experience," said Michael Garrett, Horizon's Mental Health Center CEO.

"Our goal is to make sure these individuals are stable and able to return to the community," Garrett said. "The other side of the equation is to help avoid going into a higher level of care, whether inpatient treatment or, if they are in contact with law enforcement due to symptoms of mental illness, to stabilize them and help them avoid going to jail."

Horizons has operated a similar four-bed home for youth in crisis in the community, called the Sunrise Home, since early 2019.

People brought to the facility will be able to stay up to 72 hours and then, if able, return to the community or be directed to a higher level of care, Garrett said.

"This isn't a locked facility," he said. "People will be able to leave if they want. We won't be able to detain them."

While the maximum stay is three days, he said, many will likely only stay a day or two.

People can be referred to the center "by anyone," Garrett said, but they expect most to come from the police or the emergency room.

Staffing levels will vary, depending on how many people are housed there, he said. However, it will never be less than two.

"We'll bring in separate staff during daytime hours to help the individuals," he said. "It may be therapists, it may be case managers, it may be a medical provider. It will not just be our staff providing services."

"We've wanted this for years," he said. "We're excited it's finally coming to reality."

Several factors played into the unit's location as well as the ability finally to open such a center.

"One was the appropriateness of the facility," he said. "What was its size? But there are also staffing issues. It has to be staffed 24 hours a day. The larger the facility, the more staff needed. We're experiencing what most people are experiencing with workforce challenges. We had to be cognizant of that too."

Garrett said the operation will be "a nice complement to the detox center run by the Substance Abuse Center of Kansas that opened about six months ago" in the former Meadowlark Commons transitional housing facility on East Second Avenue, about 4 1/2 blocks to the east of this facility.

The operation will be funded, in part, by a previously awarded federal Certified Behavioral Health Center grant. Insurance and other "third-party payers" will be billed for those who have it.

"Just like our outpatients (at Horizons), we'll not turn anybody away due to an inability to pay," Garrett said.

___

(c)2022 The Hutchinson News (Hutchinson, Kan.)

Visit The Hutchinson News (Hutchinson, Kan.) at www.hutchnews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.