New Provider Chosen for Mecklenburg County Behavioral Health Crisis Services

As part of its ongoing commitment to ensuring 24 hours a day, 7 days a week access to high-quality adult behavioral health urgent care (BHUC) and facility-based crisis services, Alliance Health has chosen a new provider of these services for Mecklenburg County.

Alliance is partnering on this project with Mecklenburg County Government, which will help fund the startup and operations of the service and also serve as a major contributor of funds to build a new facility on county owned land to house the services. The facility is slated to begin operations in the next two years

After a competitive bidding process, a selection team comprised of Alliance and Mecklenburg County staff selected RI International to operate the new crisis services.

RI International is a national leader in developing and providing recovery-oriented behavioral health and substance use disorder crisis services. They have been operating crisis and stabilization services since 1990 and currently operate state of the art crisis programs across seven states, including the Cumberland and Durham Recovery Response Centers, which serve as the Alliance Crisis and Assessment Centers in those communities. They also operate Recovery Response Centers in Henderson and Jacksonville.

“The future Mecklenburg Recovery Response Center, combined with the new national 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, will be a game changer in how we think about crisis response in this community,” said Paul Galdys, Deputy CEO for RI International. “Our partnership with Alliance Health will deliver real-time, industry-leading, no wrong door access to care for anyone here experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis.”

Like other facilities operated by RI, the facility in Mecklenburg will provide crisis services employing the peer-operated “living room model” and will be available to receive individuals who walk in seeking crisis assistance as well as those brought in under involuntary commitment orders. In addition to crisis assessment services, it will offer 23-hour observation, detoxification, and short-term crisis stabilization services delivered by a team of peer support specialists, and medical, behavioral and substance use disorder treatment professionals.

RI Chief Diversity Officer and Mecklenburg resident Vic Armstrong added that “these additional crisis response services will provide a much-needed alternative to hospital emergency departments and the county jails for individuals experiencing mental health emergencies.”

“RI International stands out for their focus on delivering crisis response services in a welcoming and trauma-informed environment,” said Robert Nesbit, Chief of Staff for Mecklenburg County’s Consolidated Human Services Agency. “Their dedication to improving access to behavioral healthcare, aligns with Mecklenburg County’s commitment to strengthen individuals and families, promote health and wellness, and build community resiliency. In partnership with Alliance Health, we look forward to welcoming RI International to our community and expanding our array of behavioral health services.”

Alliance Health CEO Rob Robinson concurred. “In our first year serving the citizens of Mecklenburg County we are excited to expand our successful relationship with RI International that has proven so beneficial in other counties served by Alliance. Similarly, we are gratified by the commitment and support of Mecklenburg County Government in helping us make this critical component of our overall crisis response possible.”