Montana-based Providence St. Patrick Hospital recently received support from Providence’s Well Being Trust to help launch a new a crisis receiving center serving Missoula and surrounding western Montana counties. The crisis receiving center will provide services to men, women, and non-binary individuals 18 and older, regardless of residency or ability to pay. Construction of the crisis receiving center is expected to be complete this fall; the center’s opening is planned for late fall 2023.
Providence St. Patrick Hospital is partnering with the Strategic Alliance for Improved Behavioral Health, Western Montana Mental Health Center, and other community organizations to launch this new center.
The crisis receiving center will provide a safe space and trauma-informed care for people experiencing a behavioral health crisis. During the first year, the crisis receiving center will provide support and resources to an estimated 4,000 individuals.
“The crisis receiving center will create access for Western Montanans regardless of their ability to pay or residency,” says Jeremy Williams, Director of Behavioral Health for Providence St. Patrick Hospital. “This site will fill a need for those who seek resources and support for their mental health concerns and substance use conditions and will provide services for non-acute men, women, and non-binary individuals over 18 years of age with a multi-disciplinary team through the community collaborations of Missoula County providers.”
Missoula County, with a population of around 120,000, has a significant urban Native American population. To honor cultural traditions, the crisis center will have a dedicated space for patients to perform traditional smudging with sweet grass or sage. The All Nations Health Center, one of 41 Urban Indian Health Programs in the U.S., will guide the crisis receiving center’s policies and procedures to provide culturally competent care.
“Ensuring that we create a supportive and therapeutic environment for this population, honoring their cultural traditions, was a key part of the development and design of the crisis receiving center and its programming,” says Williams.
The Strategic Alliance for Improved Behavioral Health Coalition is a peer committee of people with lived experience who have been involved in the design of the center and who will also be involved in the development of policies and procedures.
The center will also work closely with Providence St. Patrick Hospital’s emergency department, the inpatient psychiatric unit, assessment and referral counselors, behavioral health therapists, and the outpatient mental health clinic.
Providence’s Well Being Trust is honored to drive important work that advances the mental health and well-being throughout Missoula and surrounding western Montana counties. Learn more at wellbeingtrust.org/innovationgrants2023.
