A new crisis stabilization center will open in Syracuse this month, the first one to open in New York state.
Helio Health in Syracuse will open its new Crisis Stabilization Center with the goal of providing evaluations and care to assist any adult, child or adolescent experiencing a behavioral health crisis. The center will keep people in crisis situations away from higher levels of care and unnecessary emergency room visits.
Onondaga County Medical Director Doctor James Alexander said the facility will help tremendously in relieving stress to other emergency services.
“It’s a significant number of kids and adults in crisis out of emergency departments and they’ll be able to focus on other acute care needs and they’ll be in the hands of such trusted professionals who know how to treat people with these disorders, who have been doing it for years and are going to continue to do it with excellence, just in a different model of care,” Alexander said.
Christopher Smith, the associate commissioner of the adult community care group at the New York State Office of Mental Health, said the new facility is the direction crisis work should follow.
“There’s no host site, it’s fully integrated, 100% integrated, between mental health and substance abuse services, which is revolutionary and where we need to be going,” Smith said.
For Tania Lyons, the crisis center’s service director, it is hard to put into words what the new space means. She said getting to better serve her community is the ultimate reward.
“I was put on this earth to do crisis work,” Lyons said. “Being out in the field, doing mobile crisis and recognizing the number of patients that experience crises that feel like they don’t have a place to go is outstanding. And now, being able to be that place for them to come means everything.”
The Crisis Center will open December 11 and provide individuals of all ages with 24 hours of care, 24/7 365 days a year.
