Maryland Celebrates Opening of Compass Health Center, Offering Timely Mental Health Crisis Care and Addressing Long ER Waits
Silver Spring witnessed a momentous occasion as lawmakers, clinicians, and educators gathered to celebrate the opening of Compass Health Center. This new facility aims to provide essential mental health crisis care to adolescents and adults throughout Maryland, where emergency room wait times are known to be the longest in the nation.
The event was attended by Will Smith, chair of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and representative for Montgomery County. Speaking at the celebration, Smith emphasized the significance of the center in connecting patients in need with appropriate mental health services. He highlighted the unfortunate reality where jails often become de facto treatment centers due to the scarcity of mental health services. This situation not only results in a substantial cost burden on taxpayers, but also fails to provide the best outcomes for patients, their families, and the state as a whole.
Compass Health Center, which opened its doors in September, currently does not accept Medicare or Medicaid. However, the center’s Clinical Vice President, Erin VanLuven, assured attendees that they refer patients to other available resources. The center offers in-person and virtual partial hospitalization programs, intensive outpatient care for patients aged 12 and older, and specialized treatment for a range of conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, trauma, substance abuse, school anxiety, depression, and general anxiety.
Dr. David Schreiber, CEO and co-founder of Compass, stressed the importance of collaborating with emergency rooms to ensure patients receive immediate care and to minimize the need for hospitalization whenever possible. He raised concerns regarding the high costs and potentially suboptimal outcomes associated with hospital inpatient units. Schreiber emphasized that using waiting lists as a criterion for accessing treatment is not in line with treating mental health on par with physical health.
Compass Health Center prides itself on providing comprehensive mental health services within 24 hours of initial contact, along with psychiatric evaluations within 48 hours. In contrast, patients in Maryland currently face an average wait time of three hours and 48 minutes for mental health care in emergency rooms, according to Dr. Norvell Coots, President and CEO of Holy Cross Health.
Recognizing the pressing need for mental health parity, Maryland lawmakers are committed to addressing this issue for residents on Medicaid during the upcoming 2024 General Assembly session, according to Will Smith.
For Denise Key, the director of counseling and student support at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, facilities like Compass Health Center fill a critical gap. Key expressed her discomfort with having to direct individuals expressing suicidal thoughts to the ER. She finds solace knowing that a place like Compass exists, where assessments, evaluations, and care can be provided within 24 hours.
Compass Health Center’s opening not only alleviates the burden on overcrowded emergency rooms but also offers hope for those in immediate need of mental health crisis care. With its commitment to timely and comprehensive services, Compass aims to improve the lives of Maryland residents struggling with mental health issues.
