{"id":672637,"date":"2026-05-29T18:24:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T18:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/672637\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T18:24:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T18:24:16","slug":"this-month-matters-north-alabamas-first-psychiatric-urgent-care-opens-in-huntsville-offering-same-day-mental-health-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/672637\/","title":{"rendered":"This Month Matters: North Alabama\u2019s first psychiatric urgent care opens in Huntsville, offering same-day mental health treatment"},"content":{"rendered":"

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF<\/a>) – For Mental Health Awareness Month, two physician assistants are breaking down barriers to mental health care by opening North Alabama\u2019s first psychiatric urgent care, offering same-day appointments and eliminating the weeks-long wait for treatment.<\/p>\n

For this episode of This Month Matters, digital host Tatyana White sat down with Priya Patel and Julia Klug, co-founders of Psychiatric Urgent Care of Huntsville.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe realized there\u2019s a huge need in the community for timely access. It\u2019s one of the biggest barriers there is in mental health care,\u201d Patel said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we created the urgent care, because it can take weeks to months to get an appointment with a psychiatrist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patel said the average wait time to get in with a psychiatrist in North Alabama is six to eight weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cSix to eight weeks can make a huge difference in a person\u2019s life,\u201d Patel said.<\/p>\n

Klug said she has seen people suffer for much longer before seeking help.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think one of the things I\u2019ve seen over the years is so many people that have actually suffered for so much longer before they came to get help,\u201d Klug said. \u201cSo starting the urgent care, we just hope it\u2019s a resource where people can come that same day, like, the second they get the motivation to get help, they have the ability to walk in and get treatment that same day.\u201d<\/p>\n

How it works<\/p>\n

The facility is located in a house, creating a relaxed and non-clinical environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou walk in and fill out some paperwork, you see a psychiatrist, you get medication or therapy recommendations, and you\u2019re usually out within an hour,\u201d Patel said.<\/p>\n

Patel said patients get direct access to a psychiatrist who specializes in mental health disorders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you break your arm, you\u2019re not going to wait weeks to months to get seen,\u201d Patel said. \u201cAnd that is the same thing with mental health. Mental health affects every aspect of your life, at home, work environment, everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

The facility treats patients ages 8 and up and handles a wide variety of mental health concerns, including severe anxiety, depression, mood swings, insomnia, substance abuse, and medication refills.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to be an absolute urgent situation, but we treat a wide variety of things,\u201d Patel said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s basically, we\u2019re just having a conversation, and that\u2019s how we like to keep it. We want it to be a welcoming environment,\u201d Patel said. \u201cOur goal is to make it a comfortable situation where people can walk in and just have a conversation about what\u2019s going on. It\u2019s not like you\u2019re going to be filling out a list of symptoms or anything. We\u2019re just going to have a conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Telemedicine expands access<\/p>\n

Psychiatric Urgent Care of Huntsville now offers telemedicine for anyone in Alabama.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing we\u2019re really excited about is we are offering telemedicine now, so anyone in the state of Alabama is able to get, same day, honestly, same hour, help,\u201d Klug said. \u201cSo, whether you\u2019re here in Huntsville, whether you\u2019re down in Dothan, Enterprise, Mobile, wherever you are, you can call us or log on to our website and book an appointment. We have appointments within the hour, and we can see you virtually and get you the medications and the help you need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Klug said the telemedicine option is very helpful for people in rural areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Huntsville, we\u2019re privileged that we do have a lot of resources, but even 20, 30 minutes outside of here, there\u2019s a lot of very rural towns that don\u2019t have psychiatrists locally,\u201d Klug said.<\/p>\n

The facility is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.<\/p>\n

Psychiatric Urgent Care of Huntsville currently operates on a cash-pay basis with one flat rate, but they provide a super bill that patients can submit to their insurance for potential reimbursement.<\/p>\n

A message for Mental Health Awareness Month<\/p>\n

Patel and Klug emphasized the importance of reducing stigma around mental health.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to mental health, there is a big stigma around it, and that\u2019s the goal of Mental Health Awareness Month is to bring awareness to that,\u201d Patel said. \u201cThis is the month to check in on yourself or check in on a loved one that might be struggling, and to know that help is here and it is available same day with us at Psychiatric Urgent Care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Klug said mental health issues affect about 20% of people, and Alabama\u2019s suicide rates are higher than the national average.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think it affects so many people and we need to stop turning a blind eye to it,\u201d Klug said.<\/p>\n

Klug said one of the most important messages is that people are not alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see a lot of maybe women that struggle with postpartum depression or anxiety, where people feel like I\u2019m the only one that\u2019s ever felt this way. Sometimes they don\u2019t even reach out to their closest friends or family,\u201d Klug said. \u201cSo I think that\u2019s what I would say is, you\u2019re definitely not alone. There\u2019s a lot of people walking in the grocery store with you that have probably felt the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Klug also emphasized that everything discussed at the facility is confidential.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything that happens in our office is confidential. I always say we\u2019re not your mom or dad. We\u2019re not here to get you in trouble. So definitely don\u2019t let that be a barrier,\u201d Klug said. \u201cPeople have dealt with this, and we will definitely make you feel heard and welcome and get you on the right path.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about Psychiatric Urgent Care of Huntsville, visit the website<\/a> and Facebook<\/a> page. <\/p>\n

To hear more about Psychiatric Urgent Care of Huntsville, the resources they offer, and mental health awareness, the full interview can be viewed at the top of this page.<\/p>\n

Click Here to Subscribe on YouTube:<\/a> Watch the latest WAFF 48 news, sports & weather videos on our YouTube channel!<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WAFF. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) – For Mental Health Awareness Month, two physician assistants are breaking down barriers to mental…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":672638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[97,293434,259,266135,71883,260,89206,293433,3969,293435,278639,30352,278640],"class_list":["post-672637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-julia-klug","tag-mental-health","tag-mental-health-awareness-month","tag-mental-health-treatment","tag-mentalhealth","tag-north-alabama","tag-priya-patel","tag-psychiatric-urgent-care","tag-psychiatric-urgent-care-of-huntsville","tag-tatyana-white","tag-telemedicine","tag-this-month-matters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}