Community Counseling Solutions will host a ribbon-cutting and open house at Rivers Edge Acute Center for Healing in Hermiston.
CCS Executive Director Kimberly Lindsay invites the community to learn more about the facility during the celebration. According to a press release, she anticipates it will open around mid-April.
Formerly known as Aspen Springs, REACH is a licensed 15-bed facility — nine beds for individuals experiencing acute psychiatric distress and the rest utilized for those in need of longer-term psychiatric residential care.
“CCS has been diligently working for several years to bring psychiatric acute care services back to Eastern Oregon,” Lindsay said in a press release. “The services this facility will provide are desperately needed and will significantly benefit individuals, families, hospitals and law enforcement providers in our region, as well as across the state.”
The event is March 14 and begins at 3 p.m. at 1212 W. Linda Ave., Hermiston. Opening remarks will be provided by Rep. Greg Smith, Hermiston Mayor Dave Drotzmann, Umatilla County Commissioner John Shafer and CCS Board Chairman Mark Lemmon. Tours will be available until 7 p.m. Refreshments will be served.
Lindsay said funding for services will largely come from an individual’s insurance provider. The facility will employ more than 20 individuals, including psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners, as well as nursing staff, residential associates, cooks, maintenance and supervisory employees.
Lifeways Inc., the former Umatilla County mental health provider, initially opened Aspen Springs Psychiatric Hospital in September 2020. It closed its doors less than seven months later, citing difficulties in staffing the facility.
Lifeways officials on May 4, 2021, reported plans to transition Aspen Springs as a secure residential treatment facility. However, several weeks later, the county announced it was awarding the provider contract for its mental health and addiction services to Community Counseling Solutions.
Funding to purchase the building, Lindsay said, was secured through advocacy and support from Smith and the state Legislature. The facility remodel, she said, was made possible by the Oregon Health Authority and all coordinated care organizations in Oregon.
For more information, contact Lindsay at 541-676-9161 or kimberly.lindsay@ccsemail.org.
