CULLMAN, Ala—On Monday, April 1, WellStone, one of Cullman County’s mental health resource centers, unveiled its newly completed expansion and renovation project, which added additional office spaces and patient care rooms. A new entrance was fitted to the building, showcasing a grand atrium to the center, leading to the refreshed facility with new paint, flooring, furniture and fixtures.
“We renovated the outside, gave it a much-needed facelift. We’ve got a beautiful entrance here. We’ve added about 3,000 square feet; we really needed more office space and patient care areas,” said WellStone Chief Operating Officer Chris Van Dyke.
The recently acquired square footage has more in store than simply office space; WellStone hopes to expand its scope of practice past mental health and begin treating the physical needs of its patients. Van Dyke noted there is often a crossover in needs of the patients seen at the center; often, patients present at WellStone with mental health needs, and an equally important physical need is noticed by staff or pointed out by patients.
“A lot of our people are very sick physically, with diabetes and heart disease,” Van Dyke said. “We hope to add primary care in the next year or so.”
One section of the expansion now houses WellStone’s Mobile Crisis Response team, a team of trained individuals on standby, ready to help and assist in a mental health crisis any day or time.
Van Dyke shed light on the intricacies of the team’s tasks in the event of a mental health crisis, saying, “They can go out into the community when there is a mental health crisis. We have a team for children and we have a team for adults. They can go to the scene and try to resolve the crisis there or they can take the person to the hospital – whatever is needed to resolve the crisis.”
While WellStone’s Cullman location does not currently have a round-the-clock crisis center, the team from Cullman is able to transport those in need of immediate mental health intervention to WellStone’s crisis center in Huntsville, avoiding an unnecessary visit to the emergency room and potential hospital stay.
“We have an emergency crisis center in Huntsville that we can transport them to; we also have a children’s wing and an adult wing there,” explained Van Dyke. “We’re trying to create a system to deal with all the mental health issues that we all face in the community.”
WellStone Board Member Shirley Arnett was present at the center’s unveiling, hoping to share and spread the word about the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
“If someone is in the middle of a crisis, they can call 988 and they’ll be connected to the Huntsville center. They’ll be connected to a local (crisis) team, and they can take them to the facility in Huntsville if needed,” she said.
Please call 988 if you or a loved one is experiencing a mental health crisis.
WellStone is located at 1909 Commerce Ave. NW in Cullman.
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