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January 4, 2017
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The Unity Center for Behavioral Health will be located on Legacy Health’s Holladay Park campus in
northeast Portland.
Mental Health Center to Open
Unity Center for
help, hospitality
and hope
The first and only dedicated
psychiatric emergency room in
Oregon will open this month in
northeast Portland, a communi-
ty-focused collaboration between
Adventist Health, Kaiser Perma-
nente, Legacy Health and OHSU
to create a comprehensive psy-
chiatric emergency care facility
for people facing a mental health
crisis.
Located on the Legacy Health
Holladay Park campus at 1225
N.E. Second Ave., the new Uni-
ty Center for Behavioral Health
will operate as a 24-hour, seven-
day-a-week health facility “where
people find help, hospitality and
hope,” said Dr. Chris Farentinos,
Unity Center vice president.
Across the U.S., people expe-
riencing a psychiatric emergency
cannot always get the help they
need, when they need it. Too often
mental health issues go untreated,
which can lead to homelessness,
loss of employment, broken rela-
tionships, incarceration and sui-
cide.
The Unity Center will combine
vital emergency care and short-
term inpatient services to drasti-
cally reduce the amount of time
people suffering a mental health
crisis have to wait to get appro-
priate care compared to a conven-
tional hospital emergency room,
officials said.
People facing a mental health
crisis, including children ages
nine to 18, can be delivered to the
Unity Center by family or friends,
self-check-in, or be transported by
ambulance. If no crime has been
committed, a patient may be safe-
ly delivered by law enforcement
officers. Patients can be voluntary
or involuntary.
The Unity Center’s care model
is based on Trauma Informed Care
that promotes trust, safety, collab-
oration, peer support, choice, and
the inclusion of cultural, historical
and gender issues.
Patients will receive compas-
sionate emergency psychiatric
care by highly qualified physi-
cians, behavioral therapists, nurs-
es and staff. Patients also have
available strong peer support per-
sonnel onsite. Having themselves
recovered from a mental illness,
these peers are on hand to help
guide patients as they navigate the
treatment and recovery process.
“Unity is going to change lives,
it’s going to matter, it’s going to
make a difference,” said Brenda
Mitchell, a peer wellness specialist.
Unity Center staff will also
work with dozens of communi-
ty partners to offer transitional
support services. With personnel
located inside the center, these
organizations will help to coor-
dinate continued support for pa-
tients after they are discharged.
These support “navigators” will
aid patients with ongoing outpa-
tient care and life resources, such
as job and housing assistance, ad-
diction treatment, legal aid, fami-
ly counseling and long-term inpa-
tient care.
“The Unity Center is an in-
vestment that will dramatically
improve the lives of individuals
and families dealing with a mental
health crisis and lead to a healthi-
er community,” said Marcia Ran-
dall, co-trustee of the Robert D.
and Marcia H. Randall Charitable
Trust. The Trust donated $20 mil-
lion to help establish the center.
The public is invited to tour the
Unity Center on Thursday, Jan. 5
from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. No reserva-
tions are required, but public park-
ing is limited.