COLUMBUS, Ohio — The effort to lower the stigma of getting treatment for mental illness is raising the demand for care.
Nationwide, there is a shortage in the behavioral healthcare workforce.
The Ohio Council is urging efforts to reverse the trend -- citing a federal government projection that demand for treatment from behavioral health practitioners spanning both mental health and addiction care will go unmet by the year 2025.
Here in Franklin County, hospital emergency rooms are becoming a safety net.
County leaders estimate 30,000 encounters a year where an adult goes to a facility experiencing a mental health or an addiction-related crisis and over 70% of those go to hospital emergency rooms.
Community advocates, lawmakers and medical experts are collaborating to create what is essentially urgent care for people in mental health or addiction-related crises.
In the spring of 2025, the Franklin County Crisis Center will be available.
It will be open 24/7 to anyone 18 and older who is in mental health crisis, regardless of residency or ability to pay.
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