More help will soon be available in Muscatine for people with mental health issues. Last week, the Robert Young Center celebrated the expansion of its services with a ribbon cutting at its new clinic, and it's scheduled to open officially next week (4/16).
Joe Lilly, Director of Outpatient Behavioral Health for Robert Young, says the new clinic is right across the street from the Unity Point Hospital in Muscatine. It'll start with a staff of ten, but he believes that number will grow quickly.
"Muscatine County has a little over 40,000 people. And we know that about 1 in 5 Americans at a given time deal with mental health conditions or issues. So when you think about that number of folks in the Muscatine County region and the possibility of needing that support - it's quite a few folks."
Services available in the new clinic will include psychiatric evaluations, medication management, and individual, family, and group therapy meetings.
"So when people are in need of emergency or crisis services, they'll now have a place where those folks can be referred to, to help keep them out of the emergency department and hopefully keep them out of inpatient hospitalization."
Lilly says their goal is to help people with the least restrictive type of care possible.
Furniture for the new clinic was donated by HNI Corporation
