Bright Path Center Now Open

Crisis residential program bedroom

A new day has dawned in Bucks County for mental health and substance use crisis care, with the opening of Bright Path Center, the first walk-in, standalone behavioral health care crisis center in Pennsylvania.

Now open in Doylestown, Bright Path Center provides 24/7 support for children, teens, and adults experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis. Individuals can walk in for help at any time without an appointment. Based on each person’s needs, services may include crisis intervention, stabilization, connection to community resources, short-term crisis residential care, or withdrawal management. The building, located at 520 North West Street, Doylestown, features separate entrances and spaces for children and adults.

The result of a collaborative effort between a wide array of governmental and health care organizations, Bright Path Center is designed to provide easy access to services to prevent or de-escalate a behavioral health crisis. Similar walk-in centers in other parts of the country have been shown to improve mental health care and reduce the frequency, cost, and length of stay waiting for care in hospital emergency departments.

“Bright Path Center represents exactly the kind of investment Bucks County residents deserve, one that meets people with compassion in their moment of need,” said Diane M. Ellis-Marseglia, chair of the Bucks County Commissioners. “Behavioral health crises don’t wait for convenient hours or the right paperwork, and now our neighbors have a place to turn that understands that urgency.”

In addition to services available at Bright Path Center, Bucks County residents also can continue to access behavioral health crisis support by calling or texting 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or Lenape Valley Foundation’s Mobile Crisis Services at 1-877-435-7709. These free, confidential services connect individuals experiencing mental health, substance use, or emotional distress with trained crisis professionals. In Bucks County, 988 calls are answered by Lenape Valley Foundation.

Individuals experiencing a medical emergency in addition to a behavioral health crisis should call 911 or seek immediate care at the nearest hospital emergency department.

The creation of Bright Path Center has been a joint effort between Bucks County Department of Behavioral Health/Developmental Programs, Bucks County Drug & Alcohol Commission, Magellan Behavioral Health, Penn Medicine Doylestown Health, and Lenape Valley Foundation, which will operate the center.

“Bright Path Center is the result of genuine partnership across our government, health care providers, and community advocates,” said Rachael Neff, Bucks County’s Director of Human Services. “It reflects our ongoing commitment to making mental health and substance use care as accessible as any other kind of emergency health care.”