Valerie Hennicke of the Five County Mental Health Authority updated the Vance County Board of Commissioners about a mental health crisis center that opened on May 20, 2009.
The center, which is located on Parkview Drive off of South Beckford Drive behind the social security office has eight beds and four “chairs”.
The chairs are for stays that are short of 24 hours. The clinic operates 24/7. It is operated by a contractor called Recovery Innovations.
According to Hennicke, stays in the facility are generally two to seven days, depending on needs.
The goal of the crisis center is to move the client from the facility and into the service system.
The site, however, is not for everyone. Since no physicians are based there, it cannot handle those with serious medical needs, nor can it handle those in need of “major” drug detoxification (i.e. heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine). It is also not equipped to serve very violent individuals.
Hennicke said that there have been walk-ins, referrals from the emergency room and social services, and clients brought in by law enforcement officers.
Member Danny Wright commented that one of the objectives of the center was to cut down on time that county law enforcement officers would have to spend in the emergency room with mental patients while waiting for them to be placed in other facilities. Hennicke confirmed that law enforcement officers had spent an average of fifteen to thirty minutes with patients at the crisis center as opposed to hours or days in the emergency room.
Many commissioners had questions about the number of people who seek treatment for substance abuse issues. Hennicke said that those people represent a small percentage of patients the facility has seen, but said that she expects the percentage to rise “as word gets out”.
Commissioner Scott Hughes asked if [the Five County Mental Health Authority] had looked into a local methadone clinic. He also commented that many addicted individuals were incarcerated locally but not treated for addiction. Hennicke responded that the financial resources for such a project were not available at present.
The presentation ended with Hennicke telling commissioners that communication with local magistrates and emergency response workers about the facility is still a problem.
“It’s not an easy task,” Hennicke said.