"In 2019, I found myself in a crisis, and a friend called the police for help," said Charlie Ellis. "All of a sudden, I was surrounded by officers with guns and tasers pointed at me." Ellis was taken to the hospital in handcuffs but was quickly determined not to be a threat to himself or others by medical professionals. This event left Charlie with a traumatic experience and without any long-term solutions for his mental health. "The officers and medical personnel were only doing their jobs; it was the system itself that needed to be improved," said Ellis.
"This new Crisis Care Center will provide a safe haven that people in crisis can access. Tthere is help, hope, and healing on the horizon, and it is okay for anyone and everyone to ask for it."
Charlie Ellis
For people like Charlie, the Kem & Carolyn Gardner Mental Health Crisis Care Center will now be the first option for anyone experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis. Individuals can walk in with a self-defined crisis, be referred by a provider in the community, or be transferred by police, fire, or emergency medical services. "Instead of just dealing with, ‘okay, here's the crisis,' all the other people that have needs but they're not being met- this is going to start reaching those, and people will walk out of these programs with an ongoing plan for treatment," says Ellis.
The new Center will help individuals de-escalate, stabilize, and connect to community resources catered to their individual mental health needs. Researchers will work alongside clinicians, patients and their families to develop evidence-based best practices for treatment and care and develop new approaches for helping people. It will also be a site for training future generations of crisis care professionals including social workers, nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, and many more.
For patients facing a psychiatric crisis, the center will help get them on the path to mental wellness by unifying critical crisis services and many community resources in one easy-to-access location. "This new Crisis Care Center, on the Huntsman Mental Health Campus of Hope, will provide a safe haven that people in crisis can access," Says Ellis, "there is help, hope, and healing on the horizon, and it is okay for anyone and everyone to ask for it."
About the Kem & Carolyn Gardner Mental Health Crisis Care Center
When the doors of the Kem and Carolyn Gardner Crisis Care Center open in 2024, it will be a welcoming place for all adults. The Center will help individuals de-escalate, stabilize, and connect to community resources catered to their individual mental health needs. The Center will help people facing a psychiatric crisis get on the path to mental wellness by unifying critical crisis services and many community resources in one easy-to-access location. The building design and operations will ensure patients and their families feel welcome, respected, and secure throughout every step of their care.
Researchers will work alongside clinicians, patients and their families to develop evidence-based best practices for treatment and care and develop new approaches for helping people. It will also be a site for training future generations of crisis care professionals including social workers, nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, and many more. Learn more.