A long-awaited – and experts say much-needed – new community mental health center is preparing to open its doors in Traverse City. Munson Healthcare and the Northern Lakes Community Mental Health Authority will host a public open house Tuesday from 4pm to 6pm for the new Grand Traverse Mental Health Crisis and Access Center at 410 Brook Street. The center will start officially operating January 5, scaling up services and staffing throughout 2025 to eventually offer 24/7 behavioral health services, a psychiatric urgent care, and adult and pediatric crisis residential units.

The center is located on Munson Medical Center’s campus in a 22,000-square-foot building that previously housed outpatient behavioral health services. Those services have been relocated to Copper Ridge and the building extensively renovated to house the new center. Tuesday’s open house is the public’s first chance to see the facility, which will provide both outpatient and residential mental health crisis services to patients of any age, regardless of their ability to pay.

“Research tells us that a mental health continuum of care that includes a crisis hotline, mobile and wrap-around services, and a crisis center has a significant impact on the wellbeing of a community,” says Michael Corby, the facility’s new director. “The center is not only a safe, healing environment to deliver care but will also help reduce strain on other resources like jails, emergency departments, and inpatient beds.”

Munson COO Laura Glenn echoes Corby’s comments, pointing to increasing demand for mental healthcare. A hospital’s emergency room isn’t designed to provide such treatment, yet it’s where many experiencing a crisis end up due to a lack of alternatives. “We have seen an increase in the number of people coming to the ER seeking mental healthcare,” says Glenn. “But we are set up to deal with medical emergencies. They’re different skillsets.” The new center will offer a “much more appropriate environment to receive behavioral healthcare,” says Glenn, and ideally free up more resources in the ER to focus on medical patients.

The center is being funded by two major grants: a $5 million American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocation from Grand Traverse County and a $5 million grant from the Michigan Hospital Association, with the latter funding dedicated exclusively to pediatric programming and services. Northern Lakes Community Mental Health Authority (NLCMHA) also received a $1.8 million federal appropriation and another $3 million state appropriation for adult and youth crisis stabilization units. Master’s and Bachelor’s-level mental health professionals will work under a shared staffing model between Munson Healthcare and NLCMHA. Between 15 and 20 employees are expected to work at the center.

“The center has the same staffing and operational complexities as any other nonprofit healthcare organization,” says Terri Lacroix-Kelty, Munson Healthcare’s director of behavioral health. “To meet the needs of the community, we will incrementally add services and increase hours of operation as we ramp up staffing over the course of the next year.”

The center will open in four phases between January 5 and fall 2025. During phase one, the center will be open Sunday-Thursday 8am-8pm. It will offer a NLCMHA-operated welcome center with behavioral health assessments and referrals, plus crisis phone screening, mobile crisis services, and peer support services. By July 1, the center will expand to 24/7 service, 365 days a year. Munson Healthcare will begin operating a psychiatric urgent care, while NLCMHA will facilitate a “living room model of care.”

Glenn explains that model provides large, open, soothing spaces – warmer and more comforting than a typical clinical environment – where individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis can rest and get support from mental health professionals. Tranquil views of the surrounding scenic woods can be seen through the windows. “You don’t feel like you’re on a hospital campus,” Glenn says. Those stays are intended to be short term, typically under 24 hours. “They’re able to just stay there until they’re in a better frame of mind, and they can access the resources they need there and be connected to follow-up care,” Glenn says.

By the end of next summer, a nine-bed adult crisis residential unit operated by NLCMHA will come online. That will be followed next fall by a six-bed pediatric crisis residential unit operated by Munson Healthcare. Those units can accommodate overnight stays for patients in more severe crisis. Glenn notes different service areas have different licensing requirements, so the phased approach is intended to allow the center to open as soon as possible and start offering community care while gradually ramping up staffing and services over the course of 2025.

While the Grand Traverse Mental Health Crisis and Access Center won’t be the “single solution to our challenges with access to behavioral health services,” Glenn says it represents an “important component to the solution.” Munson and NLCMHA leaders will be able to monitor how “access to the services (at the center) affects the demand for other behavioral health services and continually look at ways to expand services even outside of the crisis center.” Glenn says the facility presents a vital “learning opportunity” in providing community care.

“What are our other gaps in the community for this care? Where do we need to continue to work with our partners to address those gaps?” she says. “This is an important part, but not the only part, of the long-term plan. We will be learning from this program to be able to expand other behavioral health initiatives.”

Photo credit: Munson Healthcare