The winding down of residential services at Memorial Behavioral Health’s West Lake campus could create a temporary gap in the region for people going through a mental health crisis, but the move is part of a shift toward a more sustainable and comprehensive model of care.
That’s according to Alicia Lehman, vice president of behavioral health for Springfield-based Memorial Health. She is the administrator over Memorial Behavioral Health, a community mental health center with multiple sites in central Illinois.
“Those were important services,” Lehman said of the “crisis residential” and “supervised residential” programs at 200 West Lake Shore Drive in Springfield. “They mattered. They still matter. But as a community mental health center, we can’t provide all services to everyone. We are working on building up our crisis services in other ways that don’t necessarily replace them but help support the need.”…