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'There is help available': Orange County to build new crisis diversion facility

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The UNC Health building is pictured on April 22, 2024.

On April 15, the Orange County Board of County Commissioners approved the purchase of a five-acre parcel of land in Hillsborough to serve as the future site of a behavioral health crisis diversion facility.

Located near UNC Hospitals on Waterstone Drive, the facility is designed to redirect individuals experiencing behavioral health crises away from emergency rooms and the criminal justice system. It will include a 12-chair behavioral health urgent care unit for individuals aged four and older, a 16-bed crisis stabilization unit for adults and a peer-staffed living room and resource center for ongoing support.

“So a crisis diversion facility is a part of the continuum of care for behavioral health needs,” Caitlin Fenhagen, Orange County’s criminal justice resource director, said. “It’s a location that will enable people to just walk in to receive crisis services — but more importantly, it’s a diversion for folks from the emergency department at the hospital or the jail.”

The effort stems from a 2019 mapping workshop that brought together 32 local stakeholders to identify gaps in the county’s behavioral health and criminal justice systems. Fenhagen said the new facility will provide both long-term stabilization and accessible support services for individuals who may not meet the criteria for hospitalization but still need help.

Current local resources, she said, cannot accommodate individuals in custody or those unwilling to remain voluntarily, making the new center a critical, readily accessible option. Fenhagen said the facility will be embedded with holistic support for discharge planning, including housing assistance, trauma therapy and Medicaid enrollment as examples. 

"That’s not something our detention center can do," Fenhagen said. "It’s not something that our emergency room at UNC can do."

The facility will operate on a “no wrong door” model, she said, serving anyone in crisis regardless of insurance or how they arrive. Individuals may only be turned down if they need a higher level of care.

County Manager Travis Myren said to ensure access, the county plans to develop a transportation system and conduct proactive outreach. He said part of the plan for the facility's opening is to engage with the community and provide a welcoming, inclusive and safe space. 

With construction anticipated to begin before the end of 2025 and the facility opening in early 2027, Myren said funding remains a major hurdle.

“That’s not only for the construction of the facility, but also the operating costs of the facility,” he said.

Barbara-Ann Bybel, vice chair for psychiatry services at UNC Health, said another potential hurdle is long-term financial sustainability because many insurance companies do not pay for crisis services.

Additionally, she said the facility’s location near UNC is especially important for serving students. Many of the individuals who go to UNC Health for crisis services are college-aged, so she said they should be offered walk-in capabilities just like walking into any clinic rather than having to be brought in by a police officer or through a back door.

The emergency room and correctional facilities are not optimal for individuals in a mental health crises, she said, and a separate facility will allow people to get the care they need quicker and in a more compassionate, less stigmatizing way.

"[It] should be a welcoming setting where it's normalizing [that] it's okay to have challenges and it's okay to ask for help, and there is help available," Bybel said. "That was a large piece of what we talked about, is like, how do we get the word out that this place here is a resource?"

@DTHCityState | city@dailytarheel.com

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