Behavioral Health Crisis Center opening in GR this summer
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A Grand Rapids center opening this summer aims to keep those in crisis out of jail and the emergency room.
Network180 and Trinity Health Grand Rapids hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday morning at the new Behavioral Health Crisis Center, located at 260 Jefferson Ave. SE near Wealthy Street. The 8,600-square-foot, $3.6 million center is expected to open in June.
The crisis center will be open 24/7 for those going through a mental health or substance use crisis. It will accept both voluntary and involuntary placement, Bill Ward, the Network 180 executive director, explained. He said the 16-bed center will hold people for up to 72 hours, although the goal is to resolve the crisis within six to eight hours.
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Work on the center started about eight years ago.
“They thought that crisis services for mental health, individuals experiencing a crisis was not adequate,” he told News 8. “What ended up happening was these individuals are ending up in the emergency room or they’re ending up in jail, and those are not really good places to treat these individuals who are experiencing a mental health crisis. So after a lot of hard work and a lot of community input, and some changes to state law as well as some special appropriations we were able to construct this facility.”
He said he believes it will be a welcome resource for the community.
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