Clark County purchased a 24-bed psychiatric hospital this week for $10.4 million.Clark Koo said the plan is to turn the facility into a pilot program for a crisis stabilization unit that will open later this year.NTY Lieutenant The manager is Abigail Fryerson.
Crisis stabilization units are small facilities that provide short-term behavioral health care, including stabilization and drug withdrawal treatment, in a setting that is less restrictive and less disruptive to a person's life than a hospital or prison.
“We don't have a lot of access to emergency behavioral health care in the Valley, so people often have to go to the emergency room and in some cases go to jail.” And the new facility is necessary. Provide an alternative. said Frierson.
Nevada ranks last of all states in access to behavioral health services and has a high prevalence of mental illness. According to the nonprofit organization Mental Health America's annual rankings..People across the state are often forced to use emergency room or wait for prison based services Because no other services are available.
“Traditionally, behavioral health has not been something managed by counties, but rather has been within the jurisdiction of the state of Nevada, but we realized this is a need in the Valley and an unmet need. Working with the state of Nevada, we decided to move in this direction.” flyerthon Said.
The program is funded through a state-county partnership. The state will reimburse Clark County for a portion of the facility's purchase price, and the services will be funded by insurance and the county. she Said.
This program will be in addition to the state's efforts to implement crisis stabilization centers in accordance with federal guidelines for the 988 Program's efforts to build behavioral health infrastructure for people in crisis. ”People who call, people who come, and people who go somewhere.”
Nevada was originally one of the few states to fund the 988 Crisis Line, but now faced funding delays,find Having difficulty securing personnel To provide multilingual access. In particular, funding delays have undermined state efforts to implement two other federal requirements for the 988 program: mobile crisis teams to get to people in need and crisis stabilization centers to provide care. It's retreating.
“This works in parallel with the 988,” Frierson said, adding: “It works in parallel with the 988. “As a pilot, we do not believe this facility will be able to meet all of the needs of the Valley.”
The building, located in North Las Vegas, was completed in 2021 but has never been used. Frierson said they need to make some minor changes to the facility, and the county also needs time to hire staff and obtain licenses.
After the one-year pilot program ends, the county will determine whether it can continue, Frierson said.
