Children's Wisconsin planning to open walk-in mental health clinic in Kenosha

 

KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- More mental health resources are coming to hometown families.

Children's Wisconsin plans to open a new mental health walk-in clinic at its existing Kenosha location.

Kids ages 5 to 18 will be able to receive immediate mental health care upon arrival. The clinic is scheduled to start serving families by the end of this year dependent on training and recruitment.

Amy Herbst is vice president of mental and behavioral health at Children’s Wisconsin. She told CBS 58 that families need access to immediate care like this.

"Mental health is health. That's how we need to look at it," she said.

She says they are excited to expand the walk-in clinic format especially after collecting feedback from families in the past.

"What they told us very clearly was we don't need to go to the emergency room for an urgent mental health need. It's not a medical emergency but we also cannot wait for our next appointment with our mental health provider," said Herbst.

Last March, Children's Wisconsin opened the first-of-its-kind walk-in mental health clinic in Wisconsin on its Milwaukee campus.

"We've seen almost 1500 kids now since we opened and we have been able to provide kids and their families with immediate mental health care," said Herbst.

The new Kenosha location will provide similar services.

The walk-in clinic will be located at the Children's Wisconsin Kenosha Clinic and is supported by a $3 million commitment from Kohl's.