Walnut Hills is getting a major new treatment option as NorthStar Behavioral Health prepares to open a center with 26 inpatient beds, outpatient care and medication-assisted treatment. The project will give Cincinnati a larger facility focused on substance use recovery and mental health services.
The facility’s treatment lineup was highlighted by Local 12, which reported that the new center will include inpatient care, a full outpatient treatment center and a medication-assisted treatment clinic. The center is being developed along Reading Road in Walnut Hills.
A Bigger Home For A Longtime Cincinnati Provider
NorthStar is not a brand-new organization, despite the fresh name. According to NorthStar Behavioral Health, the provider is the same nonprofit formerly known as The Crossroads Center, with its mission, services and leadership continuing through the rebrand.
The organization says it has served Greater Cincinnati for 50 years, expanding from an alcohol-treatment clinic into a provider of mental health care, residential treatment, outpatient counseling and medication-assisted treatment. Its existing programs include services for adults with substance use disorders as well as people facing co-occurring mental health challenges.
The project also carries a substantial development price tag. The Port said the new headquarters will span nearly 29,400 square feet and cost about $18.3 million, with capacity expected to increase by 20%.
New Center Expected To Serve More Than 1,200 People
The Port said the completed facility is expected to serve more than 1,200 people annually, with about 60% of those patients projected to be low-income. The project is also expected to add 16 full-time behavioral health positions while retaining more than 60 existing jobs.
The move will replace NorthStar’s longtime facility on Martin Luther King Drive. WCPO reported that the organization has operated from its current location since 1966, while CEO JB Boothe described the new building as a state-of-the-art upgrade with more room for outpatient services.
NorthStar’s new Walnut Hills home is expected to open later this year, bringing residential, outpatient and medication-based recovery services under one roof. For a neighborhood and region still wrestling with addiction and behavioral health needs, that is a considerably more useful expansion than another shiny office building with nothing inside it.
