KINGSTON, Pa. — Those seeking mental health services can now check in at Wyoming Valley Behavioral Hospital on Wyoming Avenue in Kingston, the former site of Commonwealth Health's First Hospital that closed last year.
"We're starting small. We're going to be serving eight to ten patients every day. (That's) our goal. And we're going to do that for several months. We want to make sure that people are treated well, treated compassionately, and with caring attitudes," said James Davis, the facility's CEO. "It began by cleaning, painting, remediating, making the place hospital clean, organizing and making sure that we had a place that could safely serve people from this area and get mental health services without traveling far."
Local services are a top priority for the folks at the hospital. Prior to this, Davis says people had to travel for mental health services.
"And then people had to drive to Pittsburgh or take an ambulance to Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, and it was nothing nearby. And we all know, those of us in the mental health community know, the only kind of services that really work are those that are close to families and where we live."
Davis says treatment at this hospital is only the beginning. It's their mission to make sure people continue to get care once they walk out of the doors.
"We want to make sure that people have connections, people have access to inpatient services, immediate access to outpatient services, and families can be involved at the beginning," Davis said.