King County’s next crisis center for behavioral health could be at the old Polyclinic building on Broadway, in Seattle’s First Hill neighborhood.
At a recent public meeting near the proposed site, some Capitol Hill residents said a crisis center can’t open soon enough in their neighborhood, and they want people in need to have somewhere to go. But others expressed concern that it would bring more drug use and violence to the area.
In 2023, King County’s voters approved a levy — a new tax — to fund five behavioral health crisis centers, spread across the county. Each would be open 24/7 and include urgent care, a stabilization unit for stays of up to 23 hours, and rooms for longer-term stays of up to two weeks. Unlike an emergency room, crisis centers work with patients on a discharge plan and help bridge them to care or treatment in the community…