7/28/22 - Two Groups Come Together To Open Mental Health Crisis Center

A new mental health crisis center is coming to downtown Grand Rapids in the Heartside Neighborhood.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Trinity Health St. Mary's, along with Network 180 is planning to open the Behavioral Health Crisis Center in downtown Grand Rapids.    It will open on the campus of St. Mary's in the Heartside Neighborhood.

The goal is to open by next year.

Network 180 issued the following press release yesterday:   

On July 20, 2022, Governor Whitmer signed the Fiscal Year 2023 state budget into law, including $5 million for the construction of a new Behavioral Health Crisis Center (BHCC) in Kent County. 

The BHCC is a private-public partnership between Network180 and Trinity Health Saint Mary’s, Grand Rapids and will be located downtown on the Trinity Health Grand Rapids campus. The heart of the new BHCC will be a Crisis Stabilization Unit, which will allow for rapidly accessible intensive treatment that can stabilize most behavioral health crises within 24 hours. The goal is to open the BHCC in 2023.

For several years, there has been a broad community effort to create a Mental Health Crisis Center. In late 2017, Network180 created a Crisis Center Task Force to assess the community’s need around crisis mental health services and to seek broad feedback on a crisis center concept. Leaders of Hope Network, Forest View Hospital, Kent County, Kent County Health Department, Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital, Network180, Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services, Spectrum Health, Trinity Health Grand Rapids, University of Michigan Health – West, and many other organizations built upon the task force’s findings to develop a comprehensive behavioral health crisis continuum and identify the financial costs and financial sustainability for the services.

“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,” said Network180 and Kent County Board of Commissioners Chair Stan Stek. “The funding included in the state budget will bring positive change for those experiencing mental health or substance use crises in our communities.”

The ability to move forward with the Behavioral Health Crisis Center will provide residents a continuum of care that offers the “no wrong door” approach to behavioral healthcare services. 

Historically, individuals in behavioral health crises in Kent County have not been able to access care promptly and consistently in appropriate treatment settings. As a result, they often end up in an emergency department or correctional facility, leading to heightened anxiety, poor outcomes, and high costs. 

The BHCC will dramatically reduce the delay in care that people in crisis currently experience by offering a safe and secure setting where behavioral intervention and medical assessment can occur at the same time.

“We are pleased to be opening a new facility dedicated to serving the behavioral health needs of our most vulnerable population,” said Trinity Health Grand Rapids President Matt Biersack MD. “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.” 

With $5 million for the BHCC, along with the strides made in services over the past few years with the Certified Behavioral Healthcare Clinic grant from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, expansion of Mobile Crisis Response to serve adults & youth, collaboration with the City of Grand Rapids on the Homeless Outreach Team and Co-Response with the Grand Rapids Police Department and the Kent County Sheriff’s Office, and recent implementation of the 988 Lifeline number, West Michigan residents will have access to an expanded and accessible continuum of crisis care to meet their behavioral health needs.