Starting next week, people facing a mental health crisis in the Bangor area will have a place to get immediate care and support.
Bangor’s Crisis Receiving Center at 68 First St., housed within Community Health and Counseling Services, will offer walk-in services for people experiencing mental health and substance use crises.
The center will add a low-barrier place for people to get help amid a shortage of mental health providers in the state, and as Bangor struggles to support homeless community members who often have trouble getting easy access to mental health services. It’s expected to ease the burden on law enforcement and local emergency rooms, who are often the first points of contact when someone is in crisis.
It’s the third such center that’s opened in the state, including a Portland-based pilot that began in 2022 and one that opened two weeks ago in Lewiston, as part of a push from the Mills administration.
“Crisis receiving centers work, which is why I asked the legislature to establish a network of them across Maine, so any person suffering a behavioral health crisis can get prompt and appropriate care instead of being left alone or languishing in an emergency room or jail, which is too often the case,” Gov. Janet Mills said at a ribbon-cutting Wednesday.
The center will be open 24/7 starting at 8 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 5, according to Dale Hamilton, executive director of Community Health and Counseling Services. It’s open to people ages 14 and older.
It adds a new component to the crisis response system at Community Health and Counseling Services, which already includes mobile outreach and a residential program, Hamilton said.
Four people will staff the center per shift, according to Hamilton, including nurses, a nurse practitioner, peer specialists and crisis workers. They’ll treat people for as long as they need, which could be just a couple hours or longer, and have space for up to eight people at a time, he said.
Patients can be referred or just show up to the center.
It’s made possible by a $3.35 million grant from Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services, which included nearly $1 million for a year-long building renovation as well as funds for ongoing operating costs.
While some insurance plans and MaineCare will reimburse for some of the services provided at the crisis receiving center, the state funding help means that no one should worry about their ability to pay when visiting, Hamilton said.
The Portland center has had more than 3,500 visitors in the four years it’s been open, according to Mills.