St. Luke’s Penn Foundation Mental Health Walk-In Center — an innovative alternative to the emergency room for assessment and triage services — has provided care to more than 1,000 people since opening in 2023 and has significantly improved the likelihood that patients will receive ongoing care.

People seeking timely mental health care often have no other option than the emergency room (ER), said Jody McCloud Missmer, administrator, St. Luke’s Penn Foundation Mental Health Services. That’s because finding a provider who accepts new patients is difficult and if they find one, their first visit might be several weeks away.

Open every day, the walk-in center at St. Luke’s Lehighton Campus assesses people 14 and older seeking help with conditions like anxiety, panic attacks, depression, grief, thoughts of self-harm, mood swings, anger and school phobia.

“The patient experience at the walk-in center is completely different than in an emergency room, which is designed to care for physical injuries and illnesses,” McCloud Missmer said. “When you have a mental illness, you’re bleeding on the inside, and no one can see it. There’s nothing to stitch, fix or X-ray.”

In the walk-in center, patients are assessed in a comfortable, non-intimidating environment. They may be seen by a psychotherapist, have an appointment with a psychiatrist, or be sent to an emergency room for further evaluation.

It is not for people experiencing an acute psychotic state or who attempted or are actively planning suicide. Nor do you come for an appointment every week. Patients don’t come in and leave with medications.

“Of the patients who came to the walk-in center, about 11% required inpatient psychiatric care, which is very, very low,” she said. “Others were connected with an outpatient psychiatric provider because they didn’t have one, reconnected with their existing psychiatric provider or connected with their primary care provider to address their psychiatric needs. About 72% of individuals received care with St. Luke’s following their visit. And they showed up for their first visit, which is pretty remarkable.” This compares with less than 20% of ER patients who appear at their first scheduled outpatient appointment.

Tina Clymer, administrator, Carbon-Monroe-Pike Mental Health and Developmental Services, added, “That follow-up is so important because otherwise it’s just that revolving door of crisis where people aren’t getting the ongoing care they need, and they end up back in the emergency department or jail.”

After McCloud Missmer informed Clymer that St. Luke’s had space available where the Gnaden Huetten Hospital ER had been, they developed the walk-in center concept and wrote the proposal to receive the one-time Community Mental Health Services Block Grant that provided startup costs and covers services for Carbon, Monroe and Pike County residents.

Due to its proximity to county lines, many Lehigh and Northampton County residents walk in to receive care but are not covered by the grant. The center has negotiated a contract with Medicaid behavioral health managed care companies, so it receives adequate funding for Medicaid patients from these counties.

However, most commercial health plans underfund reimbursement. For example, one insurer pays only $6 for 15 minutes of care and requires a physician or another high-level clinician to see the patient.

“As you can imagine, you’re not paying the salary of any high-level mental health professional and providing benefits for only $24 an hour,” McCloud Missmer said. “So, when we look at the sustainability of a model like this, it’s concerning, especially when the outcomes are absolutely amazing.”

Clymer added while it varies monthly, 55-65% of the walk-in center patients do not have Medicaid, so the county grant currently funds most of the services, and there’s only about a year of funding remaining.

“Once the grant funding is spent, county mental health base dollars — from the governor’s budget — will have to pay for the uninsured and unfunded portion for people with commercial insurance,” Clymer said. “Without an increase to this allocation, we will not be able to continue this service.”

But, due to the center’s success, both McCloud Missmer and Clymer are committed to finding new funding sources.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our team and their commitment to what they do,” McCloud Missmer said. “I’m proud of the community for accepting the resource. Any new program can be met with criticism or concern, but our community has accepted that having a safe place to go for these services is a true gift.”