Public recovery center in Tri-Cities offers this mental health, addiction care
The Columbia Valley Center for Recovery is designed as a “no wrong door” treatment center, serving anyone regardless of insurance status or ability to pay.
Operated by Comprehensive Healthcare, the facility will offer four levels of care for people facing mental health crises or addiction.
The center officially opens May 1.
Here’s what to know:
• Patients enter through triage. Anyone can walk in voluntarily, or local police and emergency services can bring someone in through a dedicated first responder entrance. Staff in a centralized triage area will evaluate patients and determine which services are right for them.
• The facility offers four units of care. Short-term/sobering is a 23-hour observation unit with recliners for stabilization. Crisis stabilization serves those with a primary mental illness diagnosis, typically for five days or fewer. Withdrawal management provides two levels of detox care. Co-occurring residential treatment handles longer-term substance use treatment, often for patients who also need mental health care.
• Treatment isn’t necessarily linear. A patient may move between services based on their needs. Someone in a mental health crisis or facing dangerous withdrawal symptoms would bypass the sobering wing and receive medical stabilization first, with staff then determining next steps.
• Care extends beyond the immediate crisis. Caseworkers help connect patients to outside services, including medication assisted treatment, behavioral therapy, housing resources and referrals to doctors. “We always try to wrap around some case management and care coordination, because when they leave one of our facilities, they’re going to need some outpatient support,” Comprehensive Healthcare Chief of Staff Taylor Stormo told the Tri-City Herald.
• Services will ramp up over the summer. The residential wing opens fully in May along with partial crisis stabilization and sobering capacity. Full crisis stabilization and sobering capacity is expected in June, with withdrawal management beds opening in stages after that.
• The center is open to anyone. There is no geographic restriction despite being owned by Benton County. Comprehensive Healthcare will manage reimbursements. Involuntary treatment through court orders also will be available for people in active crisis.
The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by Cory McCoy. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.