The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s office unveiled a major innovation towards improving public safety and strengthening their community by creating North Carolina’s first behavioral health unit in a correctional facility at the Mecklenburg County Jail in Charlotte. The team at Mecklenburg County recognized that they had many challenges with mental health in their population and they decided to address the growing trend. Nationally, The National Alliance of Mental Health estimates that nearly 15 percent of men booked into correctional facilities have serious mental health conditions. The creation of this new facility will undoubtedly improve mental health treatment for inmates and move them closer to their end goal of preparing inmates to succeed once they are released.

Wellpath’s own Tom Sybesma was onsite at the unveiling and noted: “We can provide stabilization here but if we don’t do anything to establish care once they leave here, then what we’ve done here is possibly forgotten.”

Wellpath is honored to be a partner in this facility, providing compassionate care to this vulnerable population.

Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden unveiled the new facility to a full crowd, including Congresswoman Alma Adams, County Commissioners Susan Harden, Mark Jerell, Susan Rodriguez-McDowell, and City Councilman Larken Egleston.