Connections Health Solutions is the leading innovator in behavioral health crisis care. For more than 30 years, our person-centered approach has ensured people in crisis get the care they need quickly, in the safest yet least restrictive setting. Connections is our name for a reason: we not only stabilize an individuals’ crisis, but we connect them to community resources designed to keep them on the path to recovery. SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, and industry experts have adopted our model as a national best practice.

A crisis walk-in center is a designated center designed to care for individuals experiencing all types of mental health or substance use crises. People experience crisis differently – what may be a crisis for one person, may not be a crisis for another. Individuals seeking our care will receive respectful, discreet, and personalized care in a safe and least restrictive environment that is proven to promote the best health outcomes.

Connections will provide a spectrum of care services, from a 24/7 walk-in behavioral health urgent care to continued stabilization, for youths and adults experiencing all types of behavioral health or substance use crises.

The center will have:

• 24/7 walk-in urgent care: Walk-in access to a behavioral health provider within 90 minutes and ongoing follow-up post-crisis.
• 23-hour observation unit: Rapid assessment, treatment, stabilization, and proactive discharge planning within 23 hours, 59 minutes. Treatment is delivered in an open, therapeutic milieu with chairs instead of beds to promote interdisciplinary engagement.
• Post-acute crisis support: A program to help individuals continue to stabilize in the community with support from a dedicated team connecting them to resources and a long-term care provider.

When Connections Harrisburg is open, our providers will serve everyone who needs our care – regardless of the level of behavioral health crisis they are experiencing. Everyone experiences crisis differently and what might be a crisis for one person might not be for another. Instead of waiting hours in the emergency room or weeks to get an appointment, our walk-in urgent care, open to all regardless of insurance, will be available 24/7 and no appointments will be required. No one necessarily knows when they might experience a behavioral health crisis. If you or your loved ones find yourself needing care, we’re here to help.

The center will serve Cumberland County, Dauphin County, Perry County, and the surrounding areas. However, our center and care are open to anyone who needs our services.

Without access to a dedicated behavioral health crisis center, individuals experiencing behavioral health crisis or substance use are treated or kept in hospital emergency rooms or police facilities, putting significant additional pressure on already strained resources, including occupying hospital beds needed for physical medical emergencies. Or these individuals are brought to a hospital or police facility and are released without receiving any treatment.

Dedicated behavioral health crisis care like that provided by Connections is proven to support reduced rates of hospitalization, psychiatric boarding in emergency departments, and individuals cycling through the system without being treated. Additionally, communities with access to these best-practice crisis services see a reduction in law enforcement involvement in behavioral health crises and fewer arrests, as individuals in crisis receive care in more appropriate settings. It also allows officers to spend more time on the road where they are called to serve and protect. In short: better access to crisis care delivers a positive impact to individuals and communities.

Yes. In fact, addressing the unmet need in behavioral health crisis care has been a priority for leadership in Cumberland County, Dauphin County, and Perry County. Every day, individuals seek crisis care at emergency rooms or end up in local jails out of necessity, discharged or sent home without receiving any treatment. That’s why we’re working with the counties to establish a dedicated center that can relieve the pressure placed on these community resources while allowing individuals access to high-quality behavioral health crisis care in a dedicated, safe, and unrestrictive therapeutic environment.

Opening is 2024.

Both mobile crisis response and the walk-in crisis center will begin providing services in 2024.

Connections Harrisburg will be located at 1100 S Cameron St. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Yes. Prior to opening, we will be recruiting clinical and non-clinical positions with a dedication to hiring locally and ensuring our team has connections to community-based resources. We’ll work closely with the county to ensure the community is aware of employment opportunities at Connections Harrisburg.

We provide care to any individual in need.

The Connections mobile crisis team will offer community-based intervention to individuals in need at home, work, or anywhere in the community where the person is experiencing a crisis.

Services can include:

• Evaluation, intervention, and treatment planning for psychiatric crisis
• Assessment, prevention, and intervention with individuals exhibiting suicidal behavior
• Intervention and treatment planning with individuals coping with the completed suicide of a significant other
• Assessment, intervention, and treatment planning when imminent danger is the result of, or exacerbated by, substance misuse
• Systemic approaches and support for parents, children, and/or partners of individuals experiencing a psychiatric crisis
• Intervention for individuals and groups exposed to emotionally traumatic events
• Post-crisis follow up via phone or face-to-face to ensure individuals connect with physical and behavioral health services and community-based resources

Yes. The Connections mobile crisis team treats anyone in need of assistance.

Care will always be provided to anyone experiencing a behavioral health crisis, regardless of insurance coverage.

We provide respectful, discreet, and immediate care that acknowledges the dignity of individuals in crisis and protects their privacy. All personal health and care information is protected under HIPPA and strictly confidential.

As we continue to make progress toward opening the center, community members can visit www.connectionshs.com/harrisburg for the most current information.

If you can’t find answers to your questions in our FAQ section, you are welcome to send us an email at questions@connectionshs.com, or simply fill out the form on the Contact Us page.