Mental health crisis center aims to fill ‘gap’ in treatment

One of three new mental health crisis centers in the state, funded with an $18 million legislative allocation last year, opened in Mobile May 3. AltaPoint’s Behavioral Health Crisis Center is now housed in the Fred Delchamps Building at 2401 Gordon Smith Drive, off Stanton Road behind University Hospital.

“It’s an urgent care center for people with mental health problems, or a mental health and co-occurring substance use problems,” said AltaPointe CEO Tuerk Schlesinger. “But it’s also for sheriff’s deputies, police officers and emergency departments at hospitals to have a place to divert patients that really don’t need to be either in jail or in a hospital.”