Nevada's first crisis stabilization center for MH, BH patients opens

A midday ribbon cutting on June 24 marked the official opening of Nevada's first Crisis Stabilization Center, located just south of Nellis Air Force Base, NPR reported June 24. The center aims to take treatment burdens off of local emergency rooms, where people experiencing mental and behavioral health crises often go first, and subsequently experience long wait times. The multimillion-dollar outpatient facility comes after Mental Health America's 2024 rankings, which placed Nevada 51st in the nation for its high prevalence of mental illness and lack of providers. The center is a partnership between the state — which allocated more than $11 million to the project — and various local entities, including Clark County and University Medical Center (UMC). It has already begun accepting up to 35 patients, ages 18 and older. “Our goal is less than 24 hours, and most patients will be well under that,” said UMC CEO Mason Van Houweling “That's the goal, to be able to help stabilize immediately, deal with a medical screening, but also a mental health screening, and then figure out the resources available to that patient in a very rapid manner to be able to stabilize that crisis as quickly as possible.”