Cuyahoga County leaders are advancing a revised plan to build a Behavioral Health Crisis Center in Cleveland’s Central neighborhood, a project supporters say could reshape how the region responds to mental health emergencies.
The updated agreement between the Alcohol Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services — or ADAMHS — Board of Cuyahoga County and The Centers, a behavioral health nonprofit, reduces financial risk to the county’s broader mental health system, both organizations said.
A key change in the new deal is who takes responsibility for a $6.8 million forgivable loan. Under the revised plan, The Centers assumes responsibility instead of the Cuyahoga County ADAMHS Board.
The Board’s CEO Jason Joyce had previously told Ideastream Public Media the risk of the deal was too high for the agency.
“We’ve never done a deal like this before where we committed $6.8 million… and really being on the hook for that forgivable loan for about a decade,” Joyce said earlier this month. “If these numbers are off… either we have to put in more money or the project fails.”
The revision also dramatically lowers projected operating costs, from about $10 million annually to roughly $4.5 million. Joyce said the original figure was “just too much for the network to bear,” given the board’s existing budget challenges.
“(We want to make) sure that we have all the services that we need, that we’re taking care of the whole network, not just crisis, but the entire continuum of care,” he said Wednesday.
Even with the scaled-down plan, some cuts to existing programs are still expected, though Joyce said they will be “significantly less” than previously anticipated.
The facility — now named the Glick Recovery Campus — is slated to open in fall 2026 on the former St. Vincent Charity campus. It will operate 24/7 as a walk-in stabilization center, offering mental health and addiction care, including withdrawal management and psychiatric services.
Supporters say the center could divert thousands of people from emergency rooms and jails. Currently, an estimated 20,000 behavioral health-related ER visits occur annually in the county, according to The Centers.
Joyce said patients likely won’t notice major differences under the revised plan, which includes a phased rollout of services to match demand.
The ADAMHS Board is expected to vote on the proposal Wednesday during its 4 p.m. meeting.