Sometimes people arrive with thoughts of hurting themselves.
Mental health crisis can also look like someone who finally realized that they need help with their substance abuse problem or their mental health issues.
“For whatever reason, that’s a crisis for them and so we can bridge that prescription.” “We’ve got the people who come in and say, ‘I ran out of my medication today, and I’m not going to be able to get it until I see my doctor next week,’” she said. Holsten said there’s a broad spectrum of folks who’ve walked in their doors since they opened on July 31. “We’re hoping that if we can be preventing a crisis or intervene in the middle of a crisis that’s escalating,” said clinic director Marissa Holsten. It’s the only service of the kind in the state.Ĭarolina Outreach, located on 15/501 across from a gas station and car wash, is intended to be an alternative to the emergency room, where mental health or substance abuse patients often end up sitting for hours before being seen. Carolina Outreach is located on 15-501 in Durham, in a semi-industrial strip of stores, restaurants, gas stations and small office buildings. Perhaps they can get a prescription, or get that ankle wrapped.Ī new service in Durham seeks to fill that same space in the mental health system, an urgent care center where patients can get a little bit of help to keep a worsening mental health problem from blossoming into a full-blown emergency. These places aren’t emergency rooms, but a patient can get reassurance that the rash or sore throat is nothing too serious. Where do people go when they sprain an ankle? Or when they have a mysterious rash or a sore throat? Increasingly, when people can’t get into their doctors’ offices in a timely way, they walk into urgent care centers.