WINSTON-SALEM, NC -- Last year, approximately 4,500 people were seen by the mental health access team at Forsyth Medical Center's (FMC) emergency department, in part because of a lack of adequate community-based mental health crisis services. Now through funding recently received through The Duke Endowment and The Forsyth Medical Center Foundation, Forsyth Behavioral Health at FMC has created a behavioral health mobile crisi team to provide 24-hour crisis care 365 days a year in Forsyth, Davie and Stokes Counties.

The funding, which includes a three-year $675,500 grant from The Duke Endowment and $350,000 provided from CenterPoint Human Services through the FMC Foundation, will be used to expand 24-hour, face-to-face assessment services provided by Forsyth Medical Center's emergency department-based mental health access team.

The initial effort, launched in May, is designed to provide crisis care for patients in their communities rather than at hospital emergency departments already overburdened treating illnesses and injuries. The mobile crisis team is projected to serve more than 900 individuals in the first year, with capacity to increase the number of patients served.

A longer-term component of the program will include the planning of a new FMC behavioral health crisis center that would provide an additional option to emergency department care. Initial plans for the center, which would be located on the hospital's main campus, would include consultation rooms, a special waiting area and 24-hour observation.

Most of the acute behavioral health services currently provided in FMC's emergency department would be transitioned to the new center, reducing the need for hospitalization and providing an opportunity to more effectively address the specialized needs of mental health and substance abuse patients.

The number of individuals in North Carolina who have mental health needs is estimated to be more than 335,000, not including the homeless and those living in institutions.

Forsyth Medical Center is part of Novant Health, a not-for-profit integrated group of hospitals and physician clinics, ranked as one of our nation's 10 best healthcare systems. Novant staff cares for patients and communities in North and South Carolina. Hospital affiliates include Presbyterian Hospital, Presbyterian Orthopaedic Hospital, Presbyterian Hospital Matthews and Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville in the Charlotte, NC area; Forsyth Medical Center and Medical Park Hospital in Winston-Salem, NC; Thomasville Medical Center in Thomasville, NC; and Brunswick Community Hospital in Supply, NC. The Novant Medical Group consists of more than 1,000 providers in 262 clinic locations. Other Novant facilities and programs include two nursing homes, outpatient surgery and diagnostic centers, rehabilitation programs and community health outreach programs.

The Duke Endowment, in Charlotte, NC, seeks to fulfill the legacy of James B. Duke by enriching lives and communities in the Carolinas through higher education, health care, rural churches and children's services. With assets of over $3 billion, the Endowment has awarded more the 2.4 billion in grants since its inception in 1924.