MILWAUKEE — Shortly after announcing the closure of the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex and Psychiatric Crisis Services (PCS), located at 9455 W. Watertown Plank Road in Wauwatosa, the county is getting ready to open doors at a new facility intentionally located in the 53205 ZIP code.
The new Mental Health Emergency Center will be located at 1525 N. 12th Street in Milwaukee.
The Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex located in Wauwatosa was open for more than 40 years but health experts say a majority of the patients came from the City of Milwaukee.
"93% of the patients that are seen out in Wauwatosa at that crisis center come from the City of Milwaukee and three-quarters of those patients actually come from this ZIP code, 53205, and the contiguous ZIP codes," said Kevin Kluesner, administrator of the new Mental Health Emergency Center.
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County Executive David Crowley believes the new center will be more accessible to the community.
"You no longer have to take a half-hour, 45-minute bus ride in order to get services voluntarily at the Wauwatosa location," he said. "We know this is a location central to many individuals that we currently serve and possibly will serve."
The new facility is aimed to take care of both adults and youth in a mental health crisis.
"When they or somebody else feels like a danger to themselves or somebody else we take care of them, we stabilize them and then we get them to that next level of care," said Kluesner.
The facility will be open around the clock, 365 days a year, fully staffed with health experts. The center is aimed for the community whether patients are admitted voluntarily or involuntarily.
"We will have two psychiatrists here around the clock and that's a resource that you can't have all over in the community so we really will be at the center of excellence. We will get them to that next level of care," said Kluesner.
The move is part of a partnership between Milwaukee County and the area’s four health systems: Advocate Aurora Health, Ascension Wisconsin, Children’s Wisconsin, and Froedtert Health.
"We have to make sure that these services are in the communities that those individuals live in," said Crowley.
The Mental Health Emergency Center will open its doors on Sept. 6 for patients brought in on their own or by loved ones. On Sept. 9 the center will be open for patients brought in by law enforcement.
