(SEPTEMBER 10, 2024) Maureen Leahy, M.Ed., UVM Health Network director of psychiatry and neurology health care services, and Robert Althoff, Ph.D., M.D., professor and chair of psychiatry, commented to NBC5 about a new Mental Health Urgent Care Center opening soon in Burlington.
Photo: Annie Mackin, UVM Health
(SEPTEMBER 10, 2024) Maureen Leahy, M.Ed., director of psychiatry and neurology health care services for the UVM Health Network and administrative director of UVM’s Osher Center for Integrative Health, and Robert Althoff, Ph.D., M.D., professor and chair of psychiatry, commented to NBC5 about a new Mental Health Urgent Care Center opening soon in Burlington.
The Department of Mental Health, alongside the Howard Center and other community partners, is set to open the center—the first urgent care of its kind in Chittenden County and the fourth in the state—on October 28. The center will allow adults with increasing or acute mental health needs to be quickly evaluated and matched with providers and programs to get them the best care possible. Initially, it will operate Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on a walk-in basis.
“The walk-in nature of the clinic itself will be assisting suicide prevention, because when the individual is feeling desperate and like they have nowhere to go, they will now have somewhere to go that will receive them,” Leahy. “It’s a beautiful space and trained individuals and they can start feeling well.”
The center has grant funding for three years which will cover most of its services. The hope is to keep it running long-term.
“Three years is going to give us a really good idea of the size and scope and the overall cost and gives us the opportunity to look at both conventional billing models, but also maybe some unique billing models for a program like this,” said Althoff.
This news was also covered by WVNY-TV, WCAX-TV, the Burlington Free Press, and Vermont Public.
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