A crisis receiving center planned in Augusta County is one step closer to reality after hosting a celebration at Augusta Health on Monday.
Valley Community Services Board shared details of its behavioral health center including architectural plans and 3D building renditions with invited guests, including the governor, who attended the event virtually.
The 25,000-square-foot Valley Recovery & Assessment Center will house 16 medical chairs in the observation and assessment unit and 16 beds in the residential crisis stabilization and detox unit. It is on track to open in the fall of 2027.
“This is how we build a system that responds to every Virginian with urgency, dignity and compassion,” said Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin in a news release. “Instead of waiting in a hospital hallway or in the back of a police vehicle, people in crisis will walk into the new Valley Crisis Receiving Center — a space designed to help them reclaim stability and hope.”
The center will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. It will offer a behavioral health medical unit, emergency services, a mobile crisis unit and a co-response unit. The Crisis Intervention Team Assessment Center will relocate to the building after it opens, allowing for faster transfers for individuals under Emergency Custody (ECO) and Temporary Detention (TDO) orders.
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Combined, crisis teams currently respond to more than 1,180 interventions per year in Augusta and Highland counties and the cities of Waynesboro and Staunton.
“This center is deeply personal for our community,” said Dr. Kimberly McClanahan, executive director of the Valley Community Services Board. “Every person who enters will be welcomed into a place where calm, care and connection are the standard.
“Recovery can begin immediately, and no one will face a crisis alone.”
Construction on the center is scheduled to begin next year at a location approximately one mile from Augusta Health. The 6.17-acre site is situated in the area of Wilson Boulevard and Tinkling Springs Road in Fishersville.
An alterative site was considered on Lifecore Drive within the existing footprint of medical offices and the hospital, but plans were put on hold after neighbors raised staunch opposition to the location.
Through the Right Help, Right Now state initiative, a number of call centers, mobile crisis units and co-response models have been established in Virginia under Youngkin’s four-year term.
The facility is supported by more than $16 million in combined capital and operating investments through state behavioral health funding and regional partnerships.
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Crystal Graham
