Meadows’ mental health facility in Bellefonte to close in 2020

Residents attend commissioners’ meeting to voice concerns

BELLEFONTE -- Mental health services are an area of concern for many in Centre County. On Tuesday, several county residents turned out at the Board of Commissioners' meeting to voice those concerns.

Three residents spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting about the recent announcement that UCBH -- The Meadows, located at 190 Match Factory Place, will be closing its outpatient clinic and discontinuing crisis intervention service to county residents by Feb. 1, 2020. Centre County mental health administrator Natalie Corman spoke at Tuesday's meeting and outlined a plan for the county so its able to continue to provide services for those needing help.

"It's about connecting to people and that's really what we're trying to do starting now," Corman said. "We know it's not easy for people to do change, so we are really going to try and work throughout our entire healthcare system. Something like this really impacts all parts of our healthcare system … we're going to maximize everything this county has right now."

UCBH -- The Meadows has been a part of the Centre County mental health landscape for nearly 25 years.

"Since 1995, Universal Community Behavioral Health has contracted with Centre County MH/ID to develop a premier crisis intervention system that provides 24/7 hotlines, walk-in triage and mobile face-to-face on-site triage," the UCBH -- The Meadows website says. "This service has expanded to other counties since its inception. Our crisis intervention services collaborate with mental health professionals and community partners to achieve a positive outcome for the person in crisis. Our services advocate for a positive resolution and assist all individuals through the crisis event."

According to Corman, Centre County will ramp up its crisis services beginning on Jan. 2, 2020.

Here's a sampling of what the county will be doing in the new year:

-- Involuntary Commitment Delegate (302) -- Service, Access and Management, Inc. (SAM) will be the provider for delegate services; delegate 302 petition collection and warrant issuance; respond to the community and at Mount Nittany Emergency Department; work collaboratively with local law enforcement and ED staff during the process; staff will communicate with Center for Community Resources regarding delegate requests.

-- Center For Community Resources (CCR) -- 24/7 mental health telephone, mobile and crisis intervention services; telephone-mental health support/resources; mobile-mental health level of care assessment, referrals to outpatient/inpatient treatment on a voluntary basis as individual's current location; point of contact for on-call blended case management services (Strawberry Fields and Base Service Unit); collaborate with SAM, Inc., regarding involuntary commitment process; contact number will be 1-800-643-5432.

-- CCR Crisis Assessment Center -- 24/7 walk-in crisis counseling, resolution and referral; diversion from emergency room for individuals experiencing a crisis who do not require medical services/treatment; connecting people to community resources and services; human service and behavioral health library.

The Center for Community Resources recently opened its doors and is located at 2100 E. College Ave. in State College.

In August, the commissioners approved a contract for $694,981 with the Center for Community Resources to set up and operate the center. CCR was originally based in Butler County and has been a licensed crisis center provider since 2003. It has provided similar services in counties across the state.

"Feb. 1 is really important," Corman said. "We took the earlier Jan. 2 for crisis because we felt we were prepared. But we fully know we're taking the entire rest of the month of January to work with individuals to transfer their care over. We are the last outpatient clinic (in the county)."

To address the closure of the UCBH -- The Meadows, the commissioners pushed a pair of contracts to next week's consent agenda. The first was a contract addendum with Center for Community Resources to include telephone and mobile crisis intervention services. The contract total is $335,000 and is funded by the state ($319,556) and county ($15,444). The contract runs from Jan. 2, 2020 through June 30, 2020.

Also moved was a contract with Service Access and Management, Inc. to provide delegate emergency services. The contract total is $54,000, which is funded by the state ($51,510) and county ($2,490) for the period of Jan. 2, 2020 through June 30, 2020.

"This corporate decision really has given us a hand of cards that we need to play, that we need to work through," said commissioner chair Michael Pipe. "These are real lives that are being touched. However, there are time frames that we need to appreciate … I pray that the other nine counties with crisis services that are in the same situation that we're in will look at us as a model."

UCBH -- The Meadows said that its main inpatient Centre County psychiatric facility will remain open. That facility is located at 132 Meadows Drive, Centre Hall.