Santa Fe County set to open first phase of crisis center
Jun. 12—Maybe you lost a family member and can't stop crying.
Perhaps you're having an anxiety attack and think death is near.
Or, maybe, you're ready to stop drinking or taking drugs, but you are afraid to go through withdrawal alone.
Santa Feans in crisis will soon have a safe place to access myriad behavioral health services — including medically monitored detoxification — in a welcoming setting that isn't a hospital or jail.
La Sala Crisis Center — so named to evoke the homey feeling of a sala, Spanish for living room — will begin offering detox services later this month as part of a phased opening. By summer's end, officials say the center expects to be offering on-site crisis services and a mobile unit that can deliver help to people who can't make it to the center.
Santa Fe County spearheaded the project and owns the building that houses it on Galisteo Street.
Officials celebrated the completion of renovations to the building Friday, proclaiming the beginning of the end of stigmatizing seeking help for behavioral health problems.
The county will contract with a nonprofit, New Mexico Solutions, to provide the services, Community Services Director Rachel O'Connor said Friday. But that agreement isn't in place yet.
The center is divided into two portions — one for crisis intervention and one for detoxification.
On the crisis side, a large open common area furnished with semicircular sofas and big, blue beanbag chairs is flanked by suites of offices where people will be able to talk privately with peer counselors, social workers and nurses.
The detoxification side will be operated by Santa Fe Recovery, which has previously provided services in the space.
It includes a women's dormitory with a capacity of 11 and a men's dormitory of 18, plus two exam rooms and a glass-walled conference room. That's an increase from the organizations' capacity of 15 people before it was renovated.
After an assessment, people needing help coming off alcohol or substances will be able to stay there for three to 10 days and will be provided food, medication and connections to continued care after they leave.
The center, officials said, has been a long time coming. It began as a discussion at a behavioral health care summit in 2016.
In 2017, voters approved a bond for construction of the center — which turned into renovation of an existing building on Galisteo Street — and the Santa Fe County Commission authorized a twelfth-cent gross receipts tax increase to fund the operation of the center for about $1.6 million per year.
Christus St. Vincent is partnering with Santa Fe Recovery to provide extra funding for detoxification serves, which will be free to New Mexico residents without insurance, said Recovery Center CEO Sylvia Barela.
A copay may be required for those who have insurance.
The expansion in services was supported by funding from the county, Christus St. Vincent and Anchorum St. Vincent.
Regardless of what a person needs, O'Connor stressed clients will be welcomed without judgment and encouraged to talk about what they need to get better — or just calm themselves in one of the center's comfortable armchairs.
"It's a voluntary service," she said. "Crisis is self-defined. People may need varying kinds of support to get through it. If we can avoid isolation or escalation or a feeling aloneness for someone, then we consider that a success."
