Philadelphia first mental health urgent care is set to open next month on North Broad Street.
Leaders from Merakey, the locally-based social services nonprofit, and city officials gathered Tuesday for a ceremonial ribbon-cutting and tours of the facility, which is just south of Allegheny Avenue.
Beginning Sept. 3, residents ages 18 and older will be able to visit the clinic from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week for same-day mental health treatment without an appointment. Insurance is not required.
Individuals coming to the site, known as the Merakey Mental Health Walk-in Clinic, will be triaged and given a psychological assessment, said Nicole Connell, the organization’s senior executive director for regional adult behavioral health services.
Staff will be able to provide brief solution-focused therapy; short-term prescriptions; and referrals to other outpatient programs, Connell told Metro. Philadelphians struggling with depression, anxiety, stress and trauma will likely be among the most common patients, she added.
On occasion, Merakey may have to connect patients with crisis services, though the urgent care is not designed for those at imminent risk of harming themselves or others.
“We are here to support you before a crisis arises,” Connell said.
Those dealing with life-threatening conditions should call the suicide and crisis hotline 988 or go to one of Philadelphia’s handful of Crisis Response Centers, most of which are housed at medical centers.
Officials said the goal of the walk-in clinic is to ease the burden on CRCs and hospital emergency rooms and prevent patients from reaching a crisis level.
Merakey’s clinic is a partnership with the city and Community Behavioral Health and the result of a municipal contract awarded to the nonprofit in Fall 2023. Several months earlier, CBH issued a call for organizations to submit proposals for a mental health urgent care.
“We know this clinic will make a difference in our city,” said Marquita Williams, interim commissioner for the city’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services. “We know this clinic will make a difference for many individuals. We know this clinic will make a difference for families. We know that this clinic will save lives.”
Formerly known as Northwestern Human Services, Merakey began with a center in Mount Airy in 1969 and has since expanded to a national organization.
Connell said the organization selected the property, at 3125 N. Broad St., because of its proximity to SEPTA’s Broad Street Line and Temple University Hospital. There is also a parking lot for patients.
In addition, the city’s request-for-proposals indicated a preference for locating the clinic along the Broad Street corridor.
