Smoky Mountain Center MCO announced more details of plans for a 16-bed crisis stabilization unit for mental health, alcohol/drug use or developmental disability needs as an addition to a Wilkes County government-owned building occupied by Daymark Recovery Services at WestPark in North Wilkesboro.
Working under a contract with Smoky Mountain, Daymark is the primary provider of behavioral healthcare in Wilkes County. Sylva-based Smoky Mountain is a managed healthcare organization serving western North Carolina.
Smoky Mountain announced today (Monday) that the 10,000-square-foot addition will be called the WilkesC3 Comprehensive Care Center.
The center will offer walk-in appointments, mobile crisis management, crisis stabilization and alcohol/drug detoxification services for people seeking care voluntarily or under involuntary commitment for a psychiatric illness, stated a Smoky Mountain press release.
The press release said the center will serve all people, including Medicaid recipients and individuals without insurance, primarily in Wilkes, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery and Watauga counties.
Construction is scheduled to be complete as early as January 2018, Smoky Mountain announced. It will include remodeling the existing facility.
Major funding will come from Smoky Mountain MCO (Smoky), Daymark has been identified as the provider that will operate the facility.
According to literature provided by a Smoky Mountain official when the new facility was discussed at a recent Wilkes County commissioners meeting, the Smoky Mountain board reserved $1.3 million of its fund balance for the crisis center in North Wilkesboro.
County Manager John Yates said he was told that it would cost about $2.1 million.
WilkesC3 will be a much-needed addition to the communities we serve,” said Smoky CEO Brian Ingraham.
“Through our community reinvestment efforts, in partnership with local stakeholders, the center will be an innovative example of things being done right in today’s healthcare system. In addition to providing quality, accessible services, the center will also help residents of this five-county region find comfort, hope and personal recovery.”
“This project fulfills a long-standing need for crisis care in our community,” said Sen. Shirley Randleman of Wilkesboro. “The center will be a critical next step in meeting the healthcare needs of our citizens and is foundational to a recovery-oriented system of care.”
Wilkes County Commissioner Gary Blevins said, “This plan for additional mental health crisis services is strategic in our effort to promote the health and wellbeing of people in Wilkes and surrounding counties.”
Daymark CEO Billy West said, “Our existing outpatient clinic is already a positive economic driver in Wilkes County, and this expansion will create an estimated 30 or more new jobs.”
West added, “Residents will have the opportunity to receive local detox and crisis stabilization services without the long waits and high costs often associated with visiting a hospital emergency department.”
The press release said an estimated 225 Wilkes residents experience a behavioral health crisis every month and over 120 of them are admitted to the Wilkes Regional Medical Center emergency department (ED).
The press release said EDs nationwide are reporting large influxes of behavioral health patients, stretching hospital resources thin and causing long waits—sometimes for days—for proper care. It said EDs also often lack the regular presence of a psychiatrist or other behavioral health provider.
Gene Faile, WRMC CEO, said, “The addition of this much-needed service makes a significant contribution to the healthcare capacity in Wilkes and surrounding counties.”
The release said WilkesC3 will reduce the strain on EDs and offer a robust continuum of care that meets a person’s treatment needs locally, helping prevent future crises.
The release said it will also reduce the need for law enforcement officers to transport individuals to distant facilities or wait with them in EDs, saving time and money for local agencies.
WilkesC3 is part of Smoky’s 2016 Community Reinvestment Plan, which includes a dozen projects to reinvest Medicaid cost-savings back into local communities.
Smoky Mountain MCO manages public funds for mental health, substance use disorder and intellectual/ developmental disability services in Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey counties in North Carolina.
Access to services is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-800-849-6127. Visit us at www.smokymountaincenter.com.