The Franklin County Crisis Care Center opened to provide emergency mental health care, assisting nearly 100 people in its first week.

FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ohio — The Franklin County Crisis Care Center opened its doors this month after more than a decade of planning and preparation, aiming to provide specialized care for mental health and addiction-related crises.

In Franklin County, more than 30,000 mental health episodes are treated annually, mostly in hospital emergency rooms, according to the Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board of Franklin County. With the area’s expected growth, the need for mental health and addiction services is projected to increase by 23% over the next 10 years.

In its first week of operation, the new facility assisted nearly 100 people.

“The level of care we provide is like an emergency room service but for behavioral health care,” said Beth Plummer, senior director of operations at the Franklin County Crisis Care Center.

The center launched its first phase of services Sept. 2. The center has 40 spaces for people to be under 23-hour observation, where they have access to counselors and a medical doctor, can connect with other agencies and can leave with necessary prescriptions.

“We do an assessment and help figure out what’s going on with the person so that they then can be admitted into 23-hour observation,” Plummer said.

People can bring themselves to the center or be dropped off. So far, about 80% of patients have been brought in by first responders, Plummer said.

“It’s really working to help keep people out of jail and out of the emergency rooms and in a space that’s designed to provide the crisis care that best meets their needs,” Plummer said.

Phase two, scheduled for early 2026, will expand capacity to 60 people and will include the opening of a behavioral health urgent care facility for crises that can be handled within a few hours and the opening of a family resource center.

“One of the barriers to success when you’re having a behavioral health crisis is that you may have alienated family and friends in the process,” Plummer said. “So we’re opening a family resource center to try to reconnect people with their support systems.”

The final phase, planned for early 2027, will include the opening of a 16-bed psychiatric hospital for people who need longer-term support.

The center is open to anyone 18 and older, regardless of their ability to pay.