Bartlett Regional Hospital hosted a community open house on June 14th for its new crisis stabilization center, providing community members with a chance to tour the new facility, speak with behavioral health staff, and learn more about the services available in the center. AHHA team members from our Juneau office, Debbie Lowenthal and Marjie Hamburger, attended the event - "It’s incredible! What an amazing job they did designing it."
Scheduled for completion this month, the Aurora Behavioral Health Center will further expand Bartlett’s comprehensive, integrated approach to addressing urgent mental health needs by providing the first crisis stabilization center for adolescents and adults in Southeast Alaska.
Across the state, Alaska's communities are adopting the Crisis Now model, a tested model designed to address many of the challenges within our current behavioral health system. Crisis Now includes four components that mirror the services available to community members experiencing a physical health emergency but are staffed with behavioral health professionals.
The new Aurora Behavioral Health Center houses two components of the Crisis Now model: 23-hour crisis stabilization and short-term crisis residential. Fully staffed and operational, the center will offer 24/7 crisis care to adolescents (ages 12+) and adults (ages 18+). In addition to crisis care services, the center is the new home for Bartlett Outpatient Psychiatric Services (BOPS) and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Therapy.
“We are excited to adapt the Crisis Now model for Southeast Alaska as part of the continuum of care Bartlett provides,” said David Keith, Chief Executive Officer. “Alongside our community partners, we can help ensure individuals in crisis have a better option and avoid going to the emergency department or unnecessarily ending up in the criminal justice system.”