Push to create crisis center has potential

The pandemic didn't do away with the opioid crisis. Sadly, addiction to opioids and other drugs remains as virulent as ever. There were 138 fatal overdoses in Lorain County last year, according to county Coroner Frank Miller's office. There have been 52 fatal overdoses so far this year, with test results in additional deaths still outstanding. That's why we were pleased to learn there's a movement afoot to create what's been dubbed a Crisis Stabilization Center. Nonetheless, many questions remain to be answered before we and the public can properly evaluate this evolving project. The idea is "to find one 'front door' for anyone in crisis from a mental health or substance abuse issue," Elaine Georgas, the outgoing director of the Mental Health, Addiction and Recovery Services Board of Lorain County, said last week. Families, hospitals and police would be able to take those dealing with such crises to the center for up to 23 hours. They would be held for observation until a bed at a more specialized facility or other treatment services could be found. The center would have 32 beds, 16 for mental health patients and 16 for substance abuse patients. That's a far better option than sending them to the Lorain County Jail or local hospitals, which all too often serve as a default destination, even if they aren't always the right choice. The MHARS board committed $4 million to funding the construction of the center, which has a projected cost of $8.2 million. During the same meeting last week, the board also agreed to spend nearly $4.9 million for uninsured patients for five years and another $680,000 per year after that. Although those backing the proposal have looked at renovating an existing location to house the center, the idea that seems to have the most traction is building it behind the Nord Center's Broadway offices in Lorain. Support for a Crisis Stabilization Center also appears to be bipartisan among the county commissioners, who have clashed frequently since Republicans took over the majority of the three-member board in January. "A center like this is long overdue and badly needed, and the sooner we can move forward with this crisis response center, the better," Commissioner Matt Lundy, a Democrat, said last week. Commissioner Dave Moore, a Republican, said he hoped to break ground within the next 12 months, although given that a lot of details have yet to be worked out — or released to the public — it's hard to judge just how reasonable that timeline is. Lundy told us Tuesday the hope was that additional funding for construction would come from nonprofits, philanthropic organizations or government sources. He said the center would be jointly run by The LCADA Way and the Nord Center with operational funding from the MHARS board. Moore said that he had been in contact with someone willing to donate $1 million toward the project, although he didn't identify the mysterious backer. County residents have a right to be skeptical about the absence of such crucial information. They have heard proposals like this before, only to see them fizzle. Georgas suggested this project was a revised take on the failed Recovery One, which would have provided substance abuse and mental health services out of the county's former Golden Acres nursing home in Amherst Township. Voters rejected a $2 million levy to support Recovery One in 2018, and the project was dropped. What didn't go away, however, was the need for immediate, specialized help for those suffering from mental health or substance abuse crises.