Pioneering Behavioral Solutions

There is a significant gap in emergency behavioral health care in our community. Our community, like many others, has had good options for addressing behavioral health crises. Ozark Center maintains a Crisis Line (800.247.0661) that offers hotline counseling or in-person assessment. Local emergency rooms have always provided behavioral health assessment for urgent matters 24/7. However, people experiencing mental illness often have difficulties accessing timely ambulatory behavioral health care, contributing to an overreliance on emergency departments. Ozark Center Urgent Behavioral Services (UBS) will soon fill this gap, beginning October 1.

As an urgent care for behavioral health issues, UBS is the first and only program of its kind in the area. Behavioral health urgent cares like UBS enable better monitoring of patients and reduce risk of self-harm. The less-rushed environment allows for increased time to gain diagnostic clarity and develop alternatives to hospitalization, potentially avoiding a conventional psychiatric inpatient admission.

While the idea of behavioral health urgent care is trending across the United States, not many are operating yet. This makes Ozark Center a pioneer in the field and allows customization of the program to meet the unique needs of our community.

The environment at UBS is trauma-informed, meaning it emphasizes physical, psychological and emotional safety to help individuals rebuild a sense of control and empowerment. This difference in environment is apparent everywhere you look in our UBS facility – from spacious exam rooms with sofas and recliners to private waiting areas. Throughout the building, you’ll also find comforting color schemes and calming local art.

Additionally, UBS is an integrated medical care facility, so co-occurring physical issues can be addressed in tandem with behavioral health needs. The UBS team includes mental health professionals as well as primary care providers, case managers and certified peer specialists, enabling providers to treat the whole person.

UBS is a great option for those experiencing:

• Increasing levels of depression, anxiety, psychosis and/or sleep disturbance
• Urgent need(s) and unable to access same-day appointment
• Substance use issues
• Running out of psychiatric medication
• Missed behavioral health appointments with providers

Located at 3230 Wisconsin Ave, Suite A, Joplin, MO, UBS will be open 11:00 am – 9:00 pm Monday – Friday and 1:00 pm – 9:00 pm Saturday and Sunday. Learn more about the program at ozarkcenter.com/UBS.

About the author

Vicky Mieseler, MS, BCCP, NCP, has been with Ozark Center since 1984. In that time, she has held the positions of substance use counselor, adult psychologist, crisis coordinator, director of community care, director of family preservation services, director of New Directions, director of crisis services and vice president of clinical services. In 2017, she was promoted to chief administrative officer of Ozark Center. Mieseler has been a licensed psychologist in Missouri since 1993 and a nationally certified psychologist since 1997.