Cuyahoga County's First Crisis Center to Open 24/7 Care Sept. 28

The Centers, one of Northeast Ohio's oldest nonprofit health and human service agencies, cut the ribbon Friday on the Glick Recovery Campus in downtown Cleveland — Cuyahoga County's first behavioral health crisis center, a $36 million project that will begin round-the-clock walk-in crisis care on Sept. 28 and expects to serve 12,000 people a year.

Any adult experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis will be able to walk in without a referral or appointment. The campus at 2322 E. 22nd Street, in Cleveland's Central neighborhood, also includes a sally port where law enforcement and emergency medical crews can drop off people in crisis and be back on the street within minutes.

A phased opening across three floors

The campus is opening in stages. The third-floor outpatient healthcare center — offering primary care, psychiatry, counseling, case management, day treatment and supported employment — opens Sept. 14. Two weeks later, on Sept. 28, the ground-floor 24/7 crisis care unit and a short-term stabilization unit begin operating, with intensive observation available for up to 23 hours and an on-site pharmacy.

In January 2027, the Rosary Hall Withdrawal Management Unit will open on the second floor, providing supervised detoxification alongside individual and group therapy, peer recovery support and medication-assisted treatment. The Rosary Hall name carries a legacy: Sister Judith Karam, whose Sisters of Charity helped fund the project, noted that Rosary Hall has been part of the community's addiction recovery infrastructure since 1952.

Eric Morse, president and CEO of The Centers, described the model as bringing "crisis stabilization, peer support, psychiatric care, medication for addiction treatment, withdrawal management, primary care, counseling, pharmacy, case management and outpatient services all in one integrated environment."

A single front door for people in crisis

The campus is designed around what advocates call a universal point of access. People who walk in — or are brought by family or first responders — are greeted first by a peer supporter and a nurse, who triage what each person needs.

"One place where no one will ever be turned away. That's our most urgent need," said Larry Heller, street outreach coordinator with the Northern Ohio Recovery Association.

Cleveland police see the facility as a pressure valve for two systems that have long absorbed behavioral health crises by default: emergency rooms and jails, where people can linger for days waiting for a bed. "We cannot do this alone," Deputy Chief Jarod Schlacht said at the ribbon cutting. "Partnering with them is going to be critical to the citizens of Cleveland and the citizens of Cuyahoga County."

How the $36 million came together

The project stitches together federal, state, county and philanthropic money. The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services awarded $6.8 million in American Rescue Plan Act capital funds. Cuyahoga County Council allocated $7 million from its opioid settlement funds, and this month will debate whether to commit additional settlement dollars to operating costs over the next several years. The financing package also includes $17 million in new market tax credits, with philanthropy led by the Glick Family and the Sisters of Charity.

Rep. Shontel Brown, who represents Ohio's 11th Congressional District, used the ribbon cutting to announce she has requested additional funding for The Centers in this year's appropriations bill. State Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney called the project "by definition, hard" and "transformational."

A county already seeing overdose deaths fall

The opening lands in a county where the overdose curve has been bending. Fentanyl deaths in Cuyahoga County fell roughly 70 percent from 2023 to 2025, one of the sharpest turnarounds in the country — even as cocaine has overtaken fentanyl as the leading cause of drug-related fatalities. County officials and treatment providers have argued that sustaining that decline depends on exactly the kind of low-barrier infrastructure the Glick campus represents.

The facility also anchors a broader rebuilding of the neighborhood around the former St. Vincent Charity Medical Center site, including the St. Vincent Health and Healing Hub and a planned Goodwill Opportunity Center with a grocery store across East 22nd Street. The Centers has hired close to 70 people for the campus and expects to employ between 130 and 140 at full capacity; the organization says hiring is still underway.

Anyone experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7.