The following press release was released jointly on March 21, 2022 by The Nord Center and the Mental Health, Addiction and Recovery Services (MHARS) Board
Lorain, OH— The Nord Center applied for and was awarded $1.5 million in Congressionally Directed Spending. This request was made through United States Senator Sherrod Brown who worked to make this funding a reality.
Funding
This earmarked federal funding underlines of The Nord Center’s commitment to being an active and meaningful participant in the new Lorain County Crisis Receiving Center. The federal funds awarded to this project in combination with the funding received already from the Mental Health, Addiction and Recovery Services (MHARS) Board of Lorain County, the Lorain County Commissioners, the Nord Family Foundation, and the Bass Family, set the stage in Lorain County for breakthrough behavioral health and substance use disorder crisis care.
Model
This center, based on a best practice model used successfully elsewhere in the country, will expand the County’s capacity to provide inpatient detoxification services and revolutionize the care continuum for behavioral health and substance use disorder in Lorain County.
Partners
“The Lorain County Crisis Receiving Center project has been the culmination of many years’ work and support from countless members of our community. They include civic leadership, healthcare, schools, law enforcement, courts, both state and federal legislators, philanthropic organizations and private business owners,” said Don Schiffbauer, Nord Center CEO. “Our local emergency rooms and law enforcement agencies are currently the treatment choice options for those in crisis. This center will provide a therapeutic, warm and welcoming setting in which to facilitate recovery by providing help through medication stabilization, access to case management, counseling services and appropriate assessment. Providers can also triage on-site for the right level of care, making seamless connections to community resources that will facilitate the recovery and healing process.”
Continuum of Care
The planned Crisis Receiving Center is an alternative and much improved vision for how Lorain County provides behavioral health and substance use disorder care. The project will enhance the crisis continuum in Lorain County with a first-of-its-kind facility to treat those experiencing a mental health or substance use disorder crisis. The project owner will be the Mental Health, Addiction and Recovery Services (MHARS) Board of Lorain County in partnership with The Nord Center, The LCADA Way and many other valuable community partners.
Currently, residents of Lorain County, experiencing a behavioral health crisis or substance use disorder emergency, primarily have two options: go to an emergency department at potentially great expense to the patient and to the community; or be taken to jail, which can overburden local law-enforcement agencies.
In the Crisis Receiving Center model, people can receive rapid counseling, medication stabilization and assessment with immediate access to an appropriate level of care in a setting that is warm, inviting and therapeutic to both clients and their families and friends.
In addition to significantly benefitting clients and their families, a Crisis Receiving Center also benefits the community by reducing crowding in emergency rooms and decreasing the use of law enforcement personnel for crisis management. This because, at a Crisis Receiving Center, law enforcement can drop a client off in a matter of minutes rather than potentially spending hours waiting with them at an emergency department.
“We thank you, Senator Brown, for this critically important investment in strengthening the crisis continuum in Lorain County,” said Michael Doud, Executive Director of the MHARS Board of Lorain County. “This funding will help bring this first-of-its-kind facility closer to opening its doors to anyone in our county experiencing a mental health or substance use disorder crisis.
