Allwell set to break ground for new building
Pictured is a rendering of the proposed facility to be constructed at the corner of Seventh and Main streets (710 Main St.) to house the new Coshocton site for Allwell. Contributed | Beacon
COSHOCTON – When Six County and Thompkins merged in 2016 to become part of Allwell Behavioral Health Services, the plan was to build a new building. It’s taken a little longer than expected, but they are excited to announce that ground will soon be broken at their property on the corner of Seventh and Main streets.
“The year we merged we also did a massive renovation in Perry County, which is one of the six counties we serve,” said Chris Gallagher, director of Coshocton’s Allwell site. “We were hoping to do two sites at that time, but we were only able to do one. Everything with that renovation went according to plan and was done within the set time frame so we feel we could legitimately be in our new building next summer. We have our building plans and have secured a (USDA Rural Development) federal loan. Our ground breaking is hopefully planned for August.”
Allwell is currently located in the former Thompkins building on Second Street. The building is rented by Allwell and is up for sale by its owner in anticipation of the organization moving.
“It’s really tight in there (our current building) and not great for what we do, but its serving its purpose,” Gallagher said.
While Six County primarily served adults and Thompkins children, Allwell can now serve both and in 2018 expanded into substance abuse counseling and treatment. They also have a psychiatric nurse who can prescribe medication, several nurses who help with medicine assistance, five and soon to be six full time counselors, 10 case managers, and four support staff. In addition to Coshocton and Perry counties, Allwell also has sites in Guernsey, Morgan, Muskingum, and Noble. Allwell has a youth residential facility in Guernsey County for youth ages 14-18, a crisis center in Muskingum County, a transition program for youth ages 18-25 to help them gain life skills and find employment, and a CORE job program that helps people find and keep jobs.
“We serve cradle to grave in the behavioral health world and do group, individual and family counseling,” Gallagher said. “Anyone can walk in or call to set up an appointment. About a year ago we also added walk-in Wednesdays. From 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. anyone can walk in and get a diagnostic assessment. This can be for new people or people who had a closed case with us. We’d like if you can call in first so we can get some information over the phone first and get it in the system. Even if you don’t do that though you can still come in. This way you don’t have to wait for an appointment.”
The new building will be state of the art and two stories. It will have ample parking, a spacious waiting room, elevator, and wings for the different services offered by Allwell.
“We are excited for this for several reasons,” said James McDonald, president and CEO of Allwell. “The first is because of Chris’s leadership. She brings a history of commitment to projects and community services. She’s developed relationships with agencies, schools, the courts, the jail and the hospital. All those connections allow us to be imbedded deeply in the community. Secondly we are also excited to be putting a brand new facility in Coshocton and really feel part of the community. We are upgrading the location and leaving it better than we found it. We are excited for this new opportunity. We are committed to providing people with high quality care from professionals in a classic facility.”
Allwell serves between 2,500 and 3,000 people a year in Coshocton, which is the second-highest number of patients served by the organization.
“We serve about 12,000 a year as an organization with majority of those being in Muskingum,” McDonald said. “I credit Coshocton’s numbers to Chris and her team. We also couldn’t do what we do without people supporting our levy. We couldn’t provide a lot of the services we do without it.”
Gallagher agreed that they have a dedicated staff.
“We get compliments on our case managers, secretaries, therapists, CORE program and day treatment,” she said. “People are appreciative of the services we provide.”
Category: Business
