St. Luke’s University Health Network will celebrate the completion of the construction of the region’s first 24-hour walk-in mental health clinic with a ribbon cutting ceremony today at 1 p.m. at 211 North 12th Street in Lehighton.

The new center -- one of the first of its kind in Pennsylvania – will open at a time of growing need for mental health services across the country.

The walk-in center is designed to serve people 14 and up by assessing and addressing a variety of mental health circumstances in a comfortable, non-intimidating environment. Those issues might include anxiety, panic attacks, depression, grief, thoughts of self-harm, mood swings, anger, school phobia, and others.

Visitors seeking mental health services through the new center will find a space designed to resemble a comfortable, homey living room, according to Network Director of Clinical Therapy Services and Psychotherapist Amie Allanson-Dundon. Once there, they will be greeted by a medical receptionist, meet with a trained crisis intervention specialist and, if needed, a mental health professional.

There is, she added “no wrong door to mental health services,” but the walk-in center is intended to serve those ‘struggling in the moment’ – not experiencing the kind of mental health crisis that would require emergency in-patient admission. “It’s a hub, an option for someone to be able to be assessed and connected to the resources they need, and walk out with no sense of judgment.”

By offering the new option of a walk-in mental health center, the St. Luke’s network can now extend the benefits to the broader community by reducing the need for dealing with psychiatric issues in hospital emergency departments and reducing demands on the justice system as well.