MEDFORD, Ore. — If you’re experiencing a mental health crisis, experts say things may feel confusing, complex, and overwhelming, at times.
“…appreciating that, respecting that, meeting people where they’re at and helping people walk through to the next step,” said Rod Estes, Administrator at ColumbiaCare.
It’s why ColumbiaCare, a non-profit behavioral health agency, opened the Beckett Center in Medford on Monday. The residential facility has 14 beds, 3 meals per day, and is open 24-hours
“[We need to] de-stigmatize mental health and understand that people are people,” said Estes.
Estes says the length of a patient’s stay at a facility like this is typically 3 to 7 days.
“[It’s] a space of calmness where they can work through their trauma and start looking forward to the next day,” he said.
Estes says staff is available to monitor medication, provide counseling, and just be a “stable” place to call home. But if you’re having a crisis… and needing immediate, high-level care, a hospital would better fit your needs.
“The Beckett Center is really a step down from the behavioral health unit here in Jackson County,” said Jennifer Sewitsky, Communications Director at ColumbiaCare.
Sewitsky says to get in the Beckett Center, you’ll need a referral from a clinic, specialist, or Jackson County mental health professional.
“People who don’t meet that medical capability, don’t need [or] require those capabilities, but also don’t need a behavioral health unit… they really can do quite well in a much more, home-like environment,” she said.
The facility does not take walk-ins.
If you’re having a mental health crisis and feel like you may be a harm to yourself or others, call the Jackson County mental health crisis line at 541-774-8201.
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