First Urgent Care Behavioral Health Services To Open in Duluth
DULUTH, Minn. — The first Urgent Care Behavioral Health Services in the Northland will open July 22.
The center is a collaboration between the Human Development Center, the Center for Alcohol and Drug Treatment, Children’s Dental Services and St. Louis County. Over 2 million dollars from the ARPA was used after a unanimous vote took place through St. Louis County to refurbish the building. It is a part of the ongoing mission to support mental health and recovery in our community. The building is made to be a welcoming and safe place. Someone will be there to talk with those in need and connect them to services in a timely matter.
“When it comes to mental health crises or substance use crises we don’t as a community always see that unless we’re looking at someone who is homeless or whether we read on the news about a violent act or a self-harm act. And I don’t think people realize that there’s a lot that leads up to that. And that’s what we want to be here for. We want to fill that gap to prevent emergencies in the behavioral health realm from happening,” said Ben Hatfield, CEO of the Human Development Center.
The whole process was 10 years in the making. It started with a meeting brought up by the local hospitals who didn’t have enough resources.
“They basically were telling their stories how they were absolutely exhausted by not having the number of mental health cases that were coming in their doors. Not having enough beds or staff. You got to remember this is years before even the pandemic happened that this was going on,” said Patrick Boyle, St. Louis County Commissioner.
Urgent Care Behavioral Health Services is located at 810 East 4th Street in Duluth. It is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. A mobile crisis line is available 24/7.
