DEARBORN, Mich. (WXYZ) — Corewell Health has opened a new behavioral health clinic on its Dearborn campus to address the growing mental health crisis in Michigan and reduce the burden on emergency rooms.
Watch Meghan Daniels' video report:
The clinic is designed to provide specialized care before situations reach a breaking point, offering early intervention, stabilization, and a path to ongoing care for families in crisis.
"We know the wait times for seeing a psychiatrist and a therapist in the communities are exceptionally high, and we really need to invest in that," Subodh Jain said.
Jain, department chief and Vice President for Behavioral Health at Corewell Health, said dozens of patients across Michigan are currently waiting in emergency rooms simply because there's nowhere else for them to go.
"At any time in the state of Michigan, there are more than 150 patients who are actually stuck in the emergency rooms for lack of that level of care," Jain said.
As mental health needs continue to rise, emergency rooms across the state have often become the first and only option for people in crisis. Corewell Health leaders say this new clinic is designed to change that reality.
"We care for our people, our patients, and our community, not just for their physical health but their physical and mental and behavioral health needs. Because we believe in whole person healing of that beginning of our mission to improve health," Lamont Yoder said.
Yoder serves as president of Corewell Health East.
The clinic aims to prevent patients from reaching mental health crisis levels by providing stabilization services before emergency department intervention becomes necessary.
"Before a patient gets to a mental health crisis level, if they are being stabilized here in this behavioral health clinic, they will not have those needs to utilize the emergency department services," Natalia Szczygiel said.
Szczygiel is Vice President for Behavior Health Operations at Corewell Health.
For Corewell Health, this expansion represents more than just additional services – it's about giving Michigan families hope and help when they need it most.
————————————
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
