The $60 million Franklin County Crisis Care Center is due to open in 2025.
(ADAMH photo)
What began as a community conversation several years ago is becoming reality in Columbus, Ohio. When it opens in 2025, the $60 million Franklin County Crisis Care Center will serve adults, ages 18 and up, who are experiencing a mental health and/or addiction-related crisis.
"This project was influenced by several realities, including the fact that more than 20 percent of Franklin County's residents will experience a mental illness in a given year, and demand for services is forecasted to grow 23 percent in the next 10 years," said Jonathan Thomas, chief operating officer of the Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board of Franklin County (ADAMH).
"In Franklin County, more than 70 percent of the crisis encounters each year are treated in hospital emergency departments, instead of in community-based settings where the evidence is clear that care is more tailored, and outcomes are better for individuals."
The facility is designed to provide a welcoming, home-like environment with the appropriate infrastructure and staffing to ensure individuals and their family members are greeted without stigma, while adhering to the highest safety standards appropriate for mental health and addiction crisis care.
According to Thomas, ADAMH and the Central Ohio Hospital Council had been working on creating a more equitable, accessible way to help individuals in crisis and respond in ways that best meet their needs.
"Voices from every part of the community were part of the planning process, serving on steering committees and work groups that carefully evaluated needs and made recommendations. Participants included mental health and addiction service providers, hospitals, law enforcement, advocacy organizations, and most importantly, individuals and families who have experienced a mental health or addiction crisis."
The two-level,72,000-sq.-ft. facility benefits from tremendous collaborative support in its planning and has received funding from various institutions and donors. Financial backing includes federal, state, county and city support. An advisory council continues to provide feedback and guidance to ADAMH and the project team during the development of the center.
"Franklin County's challenges with mental health and addiction mirror many communities and the pandemic served to amplify those needs," said Thomas. "ADAMH and our partners believe we should have the same priority for mental health as physical health, because a healthy community benefits us all."
The center will provide a new approach to crisis care that integrates recovery, clinical and medical services together to provide comprehensive patient-centered care in one location.
Thomas noted that a "no-wrong-door" approach will ensure that any adult arriving at the center receives services regardless of ability to pay.
"The Franklin County Crisis Care Center is an example of what can happen when a community comes together to collaboratively find innovative solutions to an issue. It demonstrates the power of partnerships."
Thomas added that in addition to peer supporters, staff in a variety of roles will bring lived experiences to their work, enhancing their approach, whether they are a clinician, physician or member of the administrative team.
Elford Inc. serves as general contractor on the project, which Thomas said is making progress.
"Site utilities, foundations and aggregate piers are all under way or will complete shortly. Building pad construction is complete. Relocating an existing storm line enabled work required to start the building pad. Building foundations just began, so the structure, and everything in it, remains."
He added, "This project has a particularly tight site once the building starts, but the real challenges are navigating the busy market in central Ohio."
Main materials include concrete, steel, masonry, drywall, piping, conduits and major equipment. Construction should be completed by December 2024.
At the February 2023 groundbreaking, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Ohio board member and family advocate Jenny Schoning explained to reporters how ADAMH made a difference in her family's life.
"The first time my son was in crisis nearly 15 years ago, we were told to go to the hospital emergency room. He was manic, delusional and in extreme distress. My husband and I were anxious and exhausted. We spent more than 24 hours in a chaotic emergency department, waiting for a place to go for psychiatric care, and finally he was admitted.
"After a week-long stay, we left that first hospitalization with little more than a pamphlet on his diagnosis and a six-week wait for a psychiatrist. Today, I am so thrilled that individuals and their families coming to this center will have a totally different experience." CEG
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