Northwest Arkansas Crisis Stabilization Re-Opens Under UAMS Leadership
| Until the Northwest Arkansas Crisis Stabilization Unit opened last month in Fayetteville, too often the choices for those going through a mental-health crisis were limited: jail or the hospital.
Northwest Arkansas Crisis Stabilization Unit Program Director Kristen McAllister discusses the facility with a television reporter.
Formerly staffed by Ozark Guidance of Springdale, the Crisis Stabilization Unit closed in June 2021; it re-opened in August as a partnership between the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and Washington County. Kristen McAllister, who served as director of the 16-bed unit when it opened in June 2019, now oversees the facility for UAMS.
“My hope is that we will be able to provide really solid services to the individuals that are in the most need,” said McAllister during a preview of the unit for local law-enforcement agencies, state legislators and the media. “I fully anticipate us being quite busy, but being busy means that we’re helping as best as we can in the ways that we know how to.”
State Rep. Delia Haak (left) tours the renovated Crisis Stabilization Unit with UAMS’ Amy Wenger, vice chancellor of its Northwest Regional Campus.
The unit, which serves Washington, Benton, Baxter, Boone, Marion, Newton, Carroll and Madison counties, offers an alternative to incarceration or hospitalization for those experiencing behavioral-health challenges. Patients referred to the unit by law-enforcement officials, hospitals or other medical facilities or family members will stay at the facility on average 72 hours. During that time, the staff will work with them to address such issues as medication management and housing problems in an effort to improve their lifestyles.
“We’re excited to see it opening,” Chief Deputy Jay Cantrell of the Washington County sheriff’s office told a reporter during the preview. “It will provide a service to people who need it, and may help keep some people out of our jail.”
The Northwest Arkansas facility, like the Pulaski County Regional Crisis Stabilization Unit in Little Rock, which is also staffed by UAMS personnel, has a combination of registered nurses, patient services associates, nurse practitioners, social workers and psychiatrists on hand. Patients seen at the unit are voluntarily admitted, many given the option of admittance by law-enforcement officials after creating a disturbance, trespassing or other disruptive behaviors.
A total of four crisis stabilization units are currently operating in Arkansas. The Sebastian County unit opened in Fort Smith in March 2018 and the Craighead County unit in Jonesboro opened in October 2019.