As a group, we will meet at noon in the cafeteria of the Lawrence Memorial Hospital, and then go over to meet with the CEO of Bert Nash, Dave Johnson for one hour at 1 pm. Our hope is to better understand the integrated services that Bert Nash and Lawrence Memorial will provide at the hospital.

Typically, Crisis Centers provide four basic services:

1. A Triage Area where people in crisis can be assessed by a staff member;
2. An Observation Unit where people in crisis can stabilize for up to 23 hours while sitting in a recliner under observation of a technician and treatment of an advanced nurse who can write scripts;
3. A Stabilization Unit where people who need a little more time can stay (usually an average of 5 days) to let their medications begin working, and;
4. Sobering beds where people who need to sleep off intoxication and be referred to treatment for addiction and/or mental health.

Also, the state of Kansas has recently enabled local Crisis Centers to hold people up to 72 hours involuntarily if they are a risk to self or others.

Again, we are not sure what exactly the hospital's services will be. They have ruled out sobering beds. It sounds like they intend to have an observation unit and four "hotel-like" rooms. Whether these rooms will act in the same way stabilization units work or if they are simply nicer rooms for people awaiting transport is unknown. Dave Johnson hopefully can provide some insight into the expected services.