New Burrell center set to increase mental health treatment resources in Columbia
Olivia Hayes
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A new mental health center in Columbia will triple the length of time patients can get treatment, with the hope of better caring for their illnesses.
Burrell Behavioral Health broke ground Tuesday on its new Behavioral Health Crisis Center on Texas Avenue in Columbia.
Burrell provides services specializing in mental health and substance use-related crises. Burrell’s Phoenix Clinic has provided residential and outpatient substance use disorder treatment for more than 50 years.
“You can’t always get a psychiatry appointment, you can’t always get a therapy appointment immediately. So walking into the crisis center allows you to get services same day,” said Chelsea Brunstrom, Director of Columbia’s Behavioral Crisis Center.
The new Texas Avenue health center will be three times as large as its location on East Walnut Street at 5,437 square feet. Clients can receive up to 72 hours of care compared to up to 23 hours at the existing location. The new center is for people 18 and up and is voluntary. Any adult can receive mental health care, regardless of insurance or a person’s ability to pay.
In September 2024, the City of Columbia allocated Burrell $3 million of American Rescue Plan Act funding to construct the new center.
“This is a place where no one has to face a crisis alone,” said Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe at the groundbreaking ceremony.
Burrell will be able to expand overall treatment access with the expansion and provide more care to individuals in the Boone County Jail. The crisis center is estimated to have saved the Columbia community more than $14 million in the last year, based on a Missouri-specific model of hospitalization costs, jail costs, law enforcement salary and crisis center operations costs.
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the Substance Abuse and Mental HealthServices Administration estimates that 1,248,000 Missouri adults, 26.5% of the state’s populationages 18 and older, had some degree of mental illness. Among them, 301,000 adults had aserious mental illness. The national survey also reported 264,000 Missouri adults have had seriousthoughts of suicide.
Between January and May, the Columbia Behavioral Health Crisis Center on Walnut Street saw 1,588 referrals, connecting 94% of clients to care and diverting 37% of clients from hospitals, Burrell says.
Burrell’s East Walnut location will continue to operate 24/7 without interruption to services during the construction. Burrell CEO Mat Gass said construction is expected to take about a year.