The Heart of Texas Behavioral Health Networks Diversion Center opened its doors to visitors Thursday, with several of the events speakers focusing on unity against poor mental health outcomes.

The $9.7 million, 27,500-square-foot facility sits next to the networks administrative campus on Imperial Drive and will serve as a haven for people struggling with mental health crises. The facility is meant to take the burden off of law enforcement and emergency room staff who often are not equipped to deal with acute mental health crises, and help patients on a path back to stability.

The facility also houses a 3,000-square-foot Waco Family Medicine clinic, which should open to the public next month.

Former Rapoport Foundation director Tom Stanton; Daniel Thompson, executive director of the Behavioral Health Network; Waco Police Chief Sheryl Victorian; and Matt Meadors, CEO of the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, were among several speakers Thursday who poured out their support for the project.

Waco Family Medicine CEO Dr. Jackson Griggs speaks Thursday about the humanistic aspect of mental health crises and diversion, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Heart of Texas Behavioral Health Network Diversion Center.

Network Board Chair Dennis Wilson kicked off the ribbon cutting ceremony by recognizing several key players in the effort, including Waco City Council and staff, McLennan County staff and commissioners and the networks board of trustees.

He also recognized Dean Mayberry, the organizations former executive director of 30 years, former executive director Barbara Tate and 30-year board member Peter Kultgen, who each provided insight for the project long before it ever came to fruition.

I dont think you really understand the importance of community support until you get into the business that were in and its critical that we work together as a team, Wilson said.

Wilson thanked Intrepid Development Group, RBDR Architects and Built Wright Construction for their work on the project, as well as the Meadows Foundation, Cooper Foundation, Waco Foundation, Jim and Deborah Peevey and the Waco Family Medicine Foundation for their support.

This has been a project that everybody has been included in and our staff members have done a great job bringing the idea forward that can benefit them and the environment they work in to provide the services that we desperately need in our community, he said.

A community room at the Diversion Center provides space for inpatients.

Heart of Texas Behavioral Health Network Executive Director Daniel Thompson poses in the new Diversion Center's inpatient wing, which has 16 beds.

McLennan County Judge Scott Felton said the community felt the true weight of the COVID-19 pandemic through its mental health outcomes. He said the county dedicated a portion of its federal American Rescue Plan Act funding allotted during the pandemic to the Diversion Center project. The city of Waco also dedicated American Rescue Plan funding to the center.

I think if the federal government and state government all saw the urgency in mental health since the beginning of COVID wed be in much better shape, he said.

Felton said the pandemic hit us in the pocket book and caused issues for law enforcement and the county jail, which is where a lot of people experiencing mental health difficulties end up.

Part of the mission of the Diversion Center is to offer a place for people who have committed offenses and are struggling mentally to go that would keep them out of jail or emergency rooms, freeing up those resources for when they are truly needed. People who are struggling with mental health are more likely to offend again and return to jail, a revolving door, Felton said, without being given the right tools to cope and succeed.

We want to be part of the solution and I think our community members and our taxpayers want to do the same thing, Felton said. The idea, concept came up that there has to be something different than what we have now, one more piece in the puzzle to be able to have early, effective intervention.

Waco Family Medicine CEO Dr. Jackson Griggs asked attendees to imagine the feeling of their heart racing, as if they heard an alarming sound in the middle of the night, or intense grief, as if a family member had just passed away. Then, he asked them to imagine experiencing those kinds of raw, painful, disorienting emotions amplified 100 times and asked how someone could make rational decisions in that state of mind.

While we think about the very, very important economic reasons for a Diversion Center like this, lets not lose sight of the humanity that is suffering that this facility is going to aid, Griggs said.

Four of the Diversion Center's inpatient rooms are set up for people required to be more closely monitored.

Four of the Diversion Center's inpatient rooms are set up for people required to be more closely monitored.

He said half of all Americans will have a diagnosable mental health condition in their lives, and 25% of Americans right now have a diagnosable condition. Griggs said it takes someone trained in understanding the nuanced acute phase of mental health lapses to know how to help someone who is not in the perfect state of mind, the kind of care the Diversion Center will be prepared to provide.

It takes a spirit of hospitality to host people who are in crisis and to create a safe space for them and to help them bridge that crisis to a safe place of stability, he said.

Waco City Council Member Josh Borderud, who also serves as vice chair of the networks board, said the center will serve a critical role as the Ascension Providence DePaul Center, which offers inpatient and outpatient mental health services, prepares to close by the end of the year.

This Diversion Center will allow our health care systems to better treat those in mental health crisis, Borderud said. It will allow our law enforcement to better deal with actual public safety concerns and not become mental health treatment providers, as they often are.

The Diversion Center on Imperial Drive will serve people facing acute mental health crises.

The 3,000-square-foot Waco Family Medicine clinic in the Diversion Center is set to open next month.

The Diversion Center on Imperial Drive will serve people facing acute mental health crises.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday introduced the new Heart of Texas Behavioral Health Network Diversion Center on Imperial Drive. It will serve people facing acute mental health crises.

Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter.

Link:

Diversion Center to benefit struggling Waco-area residents - Waco Tribune-Herald