Galveston County to break ground on mental health crisis center
At 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, local leaders will ceremoniously begin the construction of a facility that will help people who are going through a difficult time in their lives. The construction of the Galveston County Mental Health Crisis Center in Texas is set to begin in the process of the first time in the community of the county, where people can stay for up to 72 hours for observation and mental health treatment. The new facility will provide a new way of treating people experiencing crises, unlike previously ending up in hospital emergency rooms, jail, or a long-term mental health hospital. The CEO of Gulf Coast Center, Felicia Jeffery, who will run the crisis center, believes the community will benefit from the center's opening, including police officers who encounter people in the midst of a mental health crisis more efficiently getting them to the help they need.
Published : a month ago by Seth Kovar in Health
LA MARQUE, Texas (KIAH) — At 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, local leaders will ceremoniously begin the construction of a facility that will help people who are going through a difficult time in their lives.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Galveston County Mental Health Crisis Center marks the beginning of a new way of treating people experiencing crises.
When it’s completed, for the first time this community will have a dedicated facility where people can go for up to 72 hours for observation and mental health treatment.
Previously those folks wound up in hospital emergency rooms, jail, or a long-term mental health hospital.
“The individuals that will access this unit are individuals that are experiencing a crisis,” said Felicia Jeffery, the CEO of Gulf Coast Center which will run the crisis center. “We don’t feel safe returning them to the community, but they’re not as severe as to go full in-patient like some behavioral health or in-patient psychiatric hospital. So it’s our ability to take care of those individuals to keep them safe and keep our community safe.”
Jeffery says the community as a whole will benefit from the center’s eventual opening.
One example — police officers who encounter people in the middle of a mental health crisis will be able to more efficiently get them to the help they need, freeing up officers to continue protecting the county.
Topics: Social Issues