Centegra Health System - McHenry County Crisis Program

What is it?

The McHenry County Crisis Program has been a service of Centegra Health System for more than 20 years. It serves as the point of access for all behavioral health emergencies in McHenry County. The program consists of three components: a 24/7 crisis line, a 24/7 mobile response unit (crisis on site) to any location in McHenry County and Psychiatric Emergency Services (PES). PES is an innovative, new program at Centegra Hospital-Woodstock (CH-W) focused on crisis intervention with patients who arrive at the emergency department (ED).

The crisis line serves as a referral and information line, a suicide hotline and a dispatch line for on-site crisis support. On-site crisis associates assess patients who present with psychiatric symptoms in EDs or in the community and determine the level of care needed for those individuals. PES associates assess individuals who present at CH-W’s ED, working closely with ED staff and the psychiatric inpatient unit to determine the appropriate level of care.

Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) and Grief Support is offered by the on-site crisis team to individuals, families and other groups such as schools, EDs, fire and rescue and police departments. CISD helps those who are faced with a critical incident, such as a traumatic death or other distressing experience.

Who is it for?

McHenry County residents who need emergency behavioral health services.

Why do they do it?

The primary goals are to provide prompt, compassionate and effective behavioral health services to individuals during a personal, family or community emergency. These services assist individuals so they can get past the immediate crisis and function safely in the community.

Impact

In FY 2015, the crisis line assisted more than 13,600 callers, and on-site associates assessed and linked 5,545 individuals to appropriate services.

Contact: Erin Williams, Psy.D.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Clinical Manager of Crisis Services
Telephone: 815-334-5088
Email: ewilliams@centegra.com