RiverValley opens The Phoenix Center

RiverValley Behavioral Health officially opened The Phoenix Center on Tuesday with an open house and ribbon cutting for the facility at 1100 Walnut St.

The Phoenix Center is a crisis residential program developed to address the urgent mental health needs of the community.

“RiverValley’s crisis stabilization unit has actually been here several decades, serving our population here in our seven counties, but when we started these building renovations, we recognized that there was an opportunity to completely revamp and restructure our program and give it a facelift, not only physically, but in all of our programming and daily activities,” said Michelle Nobles, senior director of mental health & substance use crisis services. “So when we were trying to decide on a name, we wanted to pick something that kind of instilled hope and resiliency. That way when people come here, they feel like this is the type of place where they can come in and truly get their needs met, figure out what coping skills they need in order to be able to discharge feeling healthier, more stable.”

The Phoenix Center is a short-term stay (three to five days), voluntary program. The goal of the program is to create a recovery plan that is specifically tailored to each individual’s needs, empowering them to reintegrate into the community with a strong sense of stability.

“We’re less restrictive than traditional in-patient psychiatric facilities,” Nobles said. “We want it to be more of a home-like atmosphere. We want people to feel this is a safe place to be where they know that they’re going to be cared for.”

Nobles said the facility will provide a level of care that’s critically needed in the area.

“We need that in-between level of care,” she said. “There are so many people that don’t need that intensive, in-patient hospitalization. Our stabilization unit is here for people that are voluntarily ready and willing and want to make some positive changes in their life, whether that be for mental health or substance use reasons.

“And most of the time most of the folks that we see have dual diagnosis issues, so we want to be able to treat that jointly while they’re here with us.”

“Any kind of a crisis is individualized to the person, so whatever that person recognizes as something that is keeping them from being able to function effectively in their day to day life, we want to try and address that while they’re here with us, that they feel more comfortable, more competent, more able to handle all of those things when they discharge from us.”

The Phoenix Center team includes a clinical director, nurse coordinator, administrative manager, psychiatric providers and peer support specialists. That staff diversity will allow patients to receive mental health and physical health aid.

“If someone isn’t dealing with their mental health, they’re probably not taking care of their medical health either,” Nobles said. “If we have (a client) with high blood pressure, diabetes, things that need to be managed a little more effectively, we’re going to work with them on those things, because that’s going to affect their mental health.

“So we’re just trying to treat the whole person. Whatever barriers are keeping them from being successful in the outside world and truly entering recovery, we want to try and identify those and find ways to eliminate them.”

Dr. Wanda Figueroa-Peralta, president and CEO of RiverValley Behavioral Health, said it was fitting to open the facility on World Suicide Prevention Day, with the center a “vital resource that strives for a future where fewer lives are lost to suicide.

“We are honored to provide this vital service for our community and want those experiencing mental health and substance use challenges to know that recovery is possible,” she said, “and they do not have to face their journey alone.”