FESTUS, Mo. — A crucial mental health resource has become available to Jefferson County residents, and it's the first of its kind for the area.
Compass Health Network recently opened up a new Behavioral Health Crisis Center in Festus.
Senior Director Lauren Bruce said the center is crucial for the necessary service it provides in Jefferson County, as well as the resources and money it saves the state of Missouri.
"The state of Missouri is exploding with these crisis centers all over the map," she said.
For Bruce, mental well-being has always been top of mind.
"It's health, right? For a really long time, it was kind of pushed to the backside," she said.
It's a trend, Bruce said, she saw first-hand.
"In my former life, I was a division one field hockey coach, and I saw just the impact that a lot of my student athletes had when it came to behavioral health needs," she said.
Bruce has been devoting her life to meeting those needs as Senior Director of Compass Health Network's Crisis Centers.
"The state's trying to strategically put them in spots where we can serve the most people and do the most good," she said.
Recently, Compass Health Network opened its newest Behavioral Health Crisis Center in Festus. According to Bruce, it's the first of its kind in Jefferson County.
"It's really important to have this in the community, to support people where maybe they haven't had access to these resources in the past," she said.
Bruce said those resources include case managers, nurses and psychiatrists while connecting patients to ongoing care.
"Crisis is totally in the eye of the beholder. So, something that might put you into crisis may not put somebody else in a crisis, and we really want to honor that and respect that," she said.
The center gives people access to showers, laundry, meals and clothes while maximizing resources, according to Bruce.
"The whole point of the crisis centers is to divert people from unnecessarily utilizing law enforcement and hospitals in a behavioral health crisis," she said.
Since opening up its first of five crisis centers in 2021, Compass Health Network has saved the state over $62 million and served over 17,000 people. According to Bruce, 95% of their clients have zero hospitalizations or contact with law enforcement 30 days after their stay.
"They can divert their time to kind of more pressing matters, so we're really excited to help support those individuals and our first responders," she said.
It's support that comes in the form of hope for everyone who walks through the doors.
"We might have seen them on the worst day of their life, and maybe they've gone to recovery or treatment, maybe they are connected to services, maybe they're housed now, and they come back and just say, 'Thank you,' which kind of makes it all worth it," Bruce said.
The center is currently open Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on 222 North Mill Street in Festus, MO. Anyone 18 and older experiencing a behavioral health or substance-use-related crisis is welcome. The center will be open 24/7 starting on Monday, Oct. 21.
Compass Health Networks is still looking for several positions to fill at the crisis center in Festus. You can find more information on open positions here.