Bridget Mouchon

Monroe

To the Editor: 

In a mental health crisis, immediate expert care can transform the worst day of your life into a turning point. A newly passed bill from Senator Howard Marklein and Representative Clint Moses establishes regional crisis urgent care centers — psychiatric emergency rooms — to serve people who walk in or are brought by first responders. Today, people must sit…and wait for hours in emergency rooms for medical clearance before being released or transferred to psychiatric hospital. It’s frustrating and traumatizing, wasting precious time that could be spent helping the person find a different path.

The new crisis centers will be staffed 24/7 with prescribers, nurses, and counselors to assess mental health, substance use and medical conditions. They will provide mental health and substance use care on site for a few hours or up to five days. With immediate mental health crisis care, fewer people will need to go to psychiatric hospital.  And if the person does need to be transferred to another facility, the bill stipulates that transportation will not be provided by law enforcement.

Join NAMI Green County in thanking Senator Marklein and our legislature for passing this important bill and ask Governor Evers to sign it into law.