JPS Health Network held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday for its new Fort Worth-based Psychiatric Emergency Center, which is set to officially open on September 17.
The center, which is now part of one of the county’s largest public health systems, aims to address the urgent and growing need for acute psychiatric care in Tarrant County.
“We have created a place where those in crisis will be able to find care, safety, dignity, compassion and, most of all, hope,” said Dr. Karen Duncan, president and CEO of JPS Health Network, according to Fort Worth Report.
“This is more than a new building. It’s a promise that has been fulfilled.”
Located on the main JPS campus in Fort Worth, the 68,000-square-foot Psychiatric Emergency Center offers immediate mental health evaluation and treatment, designed to reduce emergency department overcrowding and provide a therapeutic environment tailored to patients’ needs.
Dr. Nekesha Oliphant, the chair of the psychiatry department at JPS, stated that the center will be open 24/7 and will operate in a manner similar to an emergency room, with potential patients having the option to walk in and receive assistance quickly, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
This project also marks a significant investment following a 2018 bond referendum approved by Tarrant County voters to expand and improve JPS’s services.
Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare was present for the ribbon-cutting ceremony and praised the work done by county residents to help support a mental health crisis that has reached dangerous levels.
“The crisis that we face in this country of mental health illness is at an unprecedented level,” he said, per Fort Worth Report.
“Several years ago, the people of Tarrant County stepped up and said, ‘We’re going to do our part to help.’”
The development of this center comes as mental health issues continue to be prevalent throughout the U.S., with the National Institute of Mental Health stating that 59.3 million adults have some form of mental illness.
These numbers are even higher in young adults, with the institute stating that 66.2% of young adults aged 18-25 years had some form of mental illness, compared to 29.4% of adults between the ages of 26-49 and 13.9% of adults over the age of 50.
Despite the prevalence of these mental health concerns, Zelia Baugh, executive vice president of behavioral health at JPS, said the center will look to help those dealing with all types of mental illnesses.
“Mental health is very treatable. People recover every day … but you have to have an environment that’s therapeutic and welcoming so that they want to come and ask for help,” she said, per FWR.
“And this place does that.”