CHA Opens Community Behavioral Health Center in Malden
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), a community health system serving Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston's metro-north communities, opened a second Community Behavioral Health Center (CBHC) location today at its Malden Care Center, located at 195 Canal Street, Malden. CHA is one of 25 designated Community Behavioral Health Centers operating statewide as part of an initiative launched by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts earlier this year to expand access to routine, urgent, and crisis treatment for mental health conditions and substance use disorders.
This is CHA's second Community Behavioral Health Center site, having opened the first site at CHA Cambridge Hospital in January. Like the Cambridge location, the Malden CBHC site offers Behavioral Health Urgent Care daily, with same-day evaluation and referral to treatment. It also provides outpatient services in person and through video visits. There is a 24-hour phone line (833-222-2030) for people in crisis. CHA will also continue to provide 24/7 mobile crisis services in individuals' homes, schools, or other community locations throughout Cambridge, Somerville, Malden, Everett and Medford.
With these new services in place, CHA has two main outpatient psychiatry locations designed to get people connected to behavioral health treatment more quickly. Patients will also have access to additional support as needed, including specialty care, case management, recovery coaches, and peer specialist services.
The Cambridge Health Alliance CBHC serves the communities of Cambridge, Everett, Malden, Medford, and Somerville. Since January, 2023, there have been more than 6,500 visits by individuals in crisis at the Cambridge CBHC site who received immediate evaluation and treatment and over 1,000 mobile visits to individuals in crisis in community locations.
"The CBHC has increased access to timely behavioral health services, providing care when individuals need it most, providing a safe and effective alternative to utilizing emergency departments for treatment of routine and urgent behavioral health problems and improving access to needed ongoing services," said Carl Fulwiler, MD, PhD, interim chair and chief of psychiatry at CHA.