Northwest Kansas to gain centralized mental health crisis center, diverting patients from jails and ERs
New 16-bed Hays facility will open May 4 to serve a 20-county region
HAYS, Kan. — Residents across northwest Kansas facing behavioral health or substance abuse emergencies will soon have dedicated, immediate care with the May 4 opening of the High Plains Mental Health Center's new Crisis Intervention Center.
Expected to serve 800 to 1,000 individuals annually across a 20-county region, the specialized facility will divert hundreds of patients away from local emergency rooms and law enforcement facilities each year. U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., toured the new space Thursday to highlight the lifesaving impact of the centralized response model, which is one of only three such facilities in the state.
Currently licensed for 16 patients but built with capacity to expand, the center will offer acute stabilization and sobering services before staff coordinate a client's ongoing inpatient or outpatient care.
Moran toured the facility alongside Executive Director Craig Poe, Crisis Intervention Center Operations Manager Benito Rivera-Madrid, Director of Clinical Programs Mark Dinkel, CIC Nurse Coordinator Danielle Lummus, CIC Patient Services Coordinator Raegan Snyder and Mobile Crisis Coordinator JoLynn Ashmore. Praising the center's clinical team, the senator said providing rapid, appropriate mental health intervention closer to home will make a tremendous difference in the lives of rural Kansans.
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