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Frontier Behavioral Health expands services as more seek mental health care

In front of a mural in the center
In front of a mural in the center's cafe, Laurel White talks about her mental illness and her recovery at the Evergreen Club on East Sprague Avenue, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016. The Evergreen Club is a gathering place for members who have been through treatment by Frontier Behavioral Health, a mental illness clinic, which broke ground Tuesday on a new center next door. White said she was diagnosed with a mental illness in 1990 and Evergreen is part of her recovery. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)Buy a print of this photo
By Rachel Alexander rachela@spokesman.com(509) 459-5406

Frontier Behavioral Health will soon have a second home on the East Sprague corridor.

Driven by a sharp increase in demand as a result of Medicaid expansion, the community mental health organization plans to complete construction on a new facility at 2128 E. Sprague Ave. by the end of 2017.

Most services offered at Frontier’s existing buildings, including its downtown campus, will remain in place, but the intensive outpatient program will move from downtown to the new center.

“It’s a commitment to this sector of our community, which is a high-need area,” Frontier CEO Jeff Thomas said.

Staff, board members, clients and supporters of Frontier gathered Tuesday morning for a groundbreaking ceremony on the vacant lot, which the mental health provider has owned for several decades.

The $4.3 million, 15,000-square-foot building will be home for 30 to 40 Frontier staff, Thomas said. The intensive outpatient program won’t take up the whole building, and Frontier doesn’t yet have plans for how to fill that space.

Since the Affordable Care Act expanded Medicaid services in 2012, Frontier has experienced an 80 percent increase in the number of clients it serves. About 4,500 people use Frontier’s outpatient services each month, Thomas said.

With demand for services continuing to grow, Thomas said he’s not worried.

“We’ve never had a problem filling up buildings,” he said.

The vacant lot is adjacent to the Evergreen Club, a clubhouse for people in recovery from serious mental illnesses to spend time, socialize, work and get job training. Frontier has operated the clubhouse since 1981.

Laurel White, a member of the clubhouse who has bipolar disorder and serves on the advisory board, said having clinical services nearby will give people who are struggling with mental illness a way to see what recovery looks like.

“It’s going to be a tremendous expansion of the community we have here at the Evergreen Club,” she said.

Clubhouse members can work in an on-site cafe and thrift store, and get to know one another. They’re able to help friends at the clubhouse stay on top of their care and are usually the first to notice if someone isn’t doing well.

“We get well here and we stay well here,” White said.

Thomas said the new location fits in with the city’s goal to revitalize East Sprague Avenue. Earlier this year, the Spokane City Council designated the area a business improvement district, a self-taxing zone where businesses pay to finance improvement projects.

Frontier’s clients are mostly low-income, and Thomas said having to travel even a few miles for services can be a barrier for some. By locating in the middle of a low-income neighborhood, he hopes Frontier will be able to reach more people.

Bouten Construction will build the facility, employing from 125 to 150 people during construction, president Bill Bouten said. The firm’s office is about a mile away from the site.

“This is kind of an investment in our neighborhood,” Bouten said.