The new Mental Health Emergency Center (MHEC) in Milwaukee County opened its doors on Sept. 9, 2022, to adults and children experiencing a mental health emergency. The MHEC is a historic, public-private joint venture 10 years in the making between Milwaukee County and Milwaukee’s four health systems—Advocate Aurora Health, Ascension Wisconsin, Children’s Wisconsin, and Froedtert Health. Advocate Aurora Health serves as the manager of the MHEC on behalf of the joint venture members. The new emergency center is one component in the broader array of behavioral health services in Milwaukee.
 
MHEC, situated on Milwaukee’s north side, replaces the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Services hospital, located in Wauwatosa for more than 140 years. Seventy percent of patients previously served at the county’s hospital ER live near the new emergency center. The MHEC offers 24/7/365 crisis mental health assessment, stabilization, treatment, and transition care management for children, adolescents, and adults. The goal is for patients to receive timely treatment and transfer to the appropriate level of care. 

This unprecedented level of collaboration among and between health systems and county government has resulted in a model of care that will inform future psychiatric crisis delivery models across the state. Anticipated outcomes include more timely access to crisis care for high-acuity voluntary and involuntary patients, a reduction in the engagement of law enforcement with individuals experiencing a serious mental illness, enhanced clinical assessment, and care coordination to continuing care and psychiatric consultation services to medical ERs—all aimed at improving patient and community health.