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This year consumers, family members, and
various professionals who touch the lives of individuals with
mental illness will have a new hope of recovery. The Lasting
Hope Recovery Center is scheduled to open in November of 2007.
Located in the former Richard Young Hospital, Lasting Hope
Recovery Center will primarily serve residents of Douglas,
Sarpy, Cass, Dodge and Washington Counties but is available
to residents across Nebraska.
The Center will bring together a number
of behavioral health services and serve as a referral point
for many more. Since the passage of the Behavioral Health
Reform Act (LB1083) in 2004, individuals and organizations
throughout the state have worked to provide a seamless array
of services for individuals and family members affected by
mental illness, a system focused on recovery. The Lasting
Hope Recovery Center is just that.
Recovery, as defined by President Bush’s
New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, is the process by
which people are able to live, work, learn, and participate
fully in their communities. Through the new
Center individuals will be welcomed into recovery at their
stage of readiness. Various levels of care will be available
including Crisis Assessment and Triage, Intensive Care, Acute
Care and Sub-Acute Care. The treatment model will be co-occurring
capable, meaning that patients with both a mental illness
and a substance abuse diagnosis will have both needs addressed
in treatment.
The Lasting Hope Recovery Center will also
provide education and research opportunities for behavioral
health professionals and provide a base for consultations
over a “telehealth” network that links sites across
the state. Law enforcement officers will be able to take individuals
experiencing a mental health crisis to the Center where they
will have access to services specific to their needs.
Other services being considered for the
facility include emergency community support, through which
Salvation Army staff would follow-up with consumers as they
return to their community; urgent outpatient care, through
which Lutheran Family Services would provide referrals for
immediate, short-term access to mental health professionals;
and peer support, through which people who don’t meet
admission criteria could come into a relaxed, living-room-like
area and meet with well trained peers.
Recovery from mental illness is a real possibility.
The Kim Foundation congratulates the Lasting Hope Recovery
Center for their efforts in transforming mental health care
in our community and across the state.
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