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Jesse Collings

FRAMINGHAM — Seeking to provide regular and emergency assistance to residents going through mental health struggles, Advocates will open the doors of its new community behavioral health center to the public on Monday.

The new center, nearly a year in the making, is part of a plan unveiled by state officials last year to make mental health care more accessible. Advocates was among several human services agencies tapped by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services to operate a community behavioral health center.

The center, at 1094 Worcester Road (Route 9), will offer a variety of services concerning mental health, including support for recovering addicts, group therapy, individual, family and couples counseling and crisis intervention. The center also provides emergency response to major issues.

Advocates staff members hosted an open house Thursday ahead of Monday's formal opening. Several local and state officials, including Mayor Charlie Sisitsky and area legislators, were among those attending.

Danielle Dunn, vice president of integrated clinical services at Advocates, said the Framingham facility provides an alternative to urgent care centers, with shorter wait times and more convenient access to multiple types of services.

"It's an alternative to hospital emergency rooms for behavioral health crises," she said. "It houses counseling, addiction recovery services, care coordination, nursing, psychiatry, pharmacy, some laboratory services, peer support, mobile crisis intervention and adult community crisis stabilization all under the same roof, making it easier for people to access all the care they need."

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Source: 
MetroWest Daily News