Waiting with your child in the emergency department of a hospital when your child is experiencing a mental health crisis can be a nerve-wracking and anxiety-inducing experience. Often, you will wait for days before your child is placed into appropriate care and can begin receiving treatment for their illness. In response to this crisis that unfolds every day in our community, Alliance Health has created The Hope Center – the first behavioral health urgent care and crisis center for children and adolescents in Wake County, NC.

Operated by Kid’s Peace, this new treatment center will provide age- and acuity-appropriate care for young people in crisis. The Hope Center will include 16 beds for a facility-based crisis program and a four-chair behavioral health urgent care walk-in clinic, both of which will operate on a 24/7 basis to divert patients away from local emergency departments, leading them instead to a facility that has been purpose-built for their needs. No child will be turned away from treatment, regardless of insurance or ability to pay.

A 27,000 SF existing building that was originally constructed in the 1960s as a rural hospital has been completely renovated to provide a safe and secure facility with calming interior spaces. This healing-focused space utilizes biophilic design strategies with access to a therapeutic outdoor courtyard. The program has been designed to accept patients who are under involuntary commitment orders, and it includes shell space for a future outpatient program.