PeaceHealth will open an outpatient behavioral health clinic in Bellingham in July, in response to the community’s “acute need” for mental health services, a PeaceHealth doctor said.
The clinic, to open on Rimland Drive near Barkley Village, will potentially serve 30 to 50 patients a day for a variety of behavioral health concerns, ranging from anger, anxiety and adolescent issues to severe mental illnesses. The clinic also will provide individualized care related to LGBTQ+ support, depression and relationships, among other issues, Dr. Kofi Bonnie said.
Providers will work with patients either in-person at the clinic or remotely. The new clinic was first reported in Salish Current.
PeaceHealth Rimland Clinic will not accept Medicaid patients, at least initially, Bonnie said.
The new clinic provides another option for care in a community where, officials say, behavioral health services are inadequate. Additionally, a crisis care clinic should open in the next few years in Bellingham, after the state Legislature in April set aside $9 million for such a facility.
In another step intended to improve care, PeaceHealth has streamlined the admission process for its 20-bed inpatient mental health unit at St. Joseph hospital.
“Adult patients can be directly admitted to the unit … before mental illness presentations become acute,” Bonnie said.
