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Lancaster General Hospital to open walk-in mental health clinic next year

A rendering showing a common area in the Behavioral Health Crisis Walk-in Center planned at Lancaster General Hospital. (Source: LG Health)

A walk-in mental health facility will open this coming January at Lancaster General Hospital, officials announced last week.

The “Behavioral Health Crisis Walk-In Center” will provide 3,000 square feet of space, offering “rapid assessment and care planning” to low-risk patients age 6 and up, Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health said in a statement.

Lancaster General Hospital is the health system’s flagship facility. The center will be on the complex’s east side on North Lime Street, in space that has become available now that the hospital’s expanded emergency room is open and fully operational on the west or North Duke Street side.

It will provide counseling, medication management and support from certified peer specialists. Its offerings “will serve as a bridge to other services” and hopefully reduce demand on LGH’s emergency department, said Tracey Lavallias, the executive director of behavioral health.

Tentative operating hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekends.

The Capital Area Behavioral Health Collaborative allocated $3.75 million in Medicaid reinvestment funds to cover construction, equipment purchases and initial operations. The collaborative is a regional nonprofit formed by the behavioral health and drug and alcohol offices of Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon and Perry counties. It is tasked with providing access to comprehensive, high quality behavioral health services. The High Foundation provided an additional $25,000.

Nationally, mental health and substance abuse trends have worsened significantly since the pandemic. Mental health professionals say the same is true in Lancaster County, especially among young people, and have pushed for more resources.

LG Health is a partner with Universal Health Services in the Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital on Harrisburg Avenue. The $30 million, 126-bed facility opened in the summer of 2018 and offers both inpatient and outpatient treatment.