Ross, Pickaway, Pike, Highland, & Fayette counties — A four-year process to provide complete crisis care for mental health and substance use is nearing completion, marked by a ribbon-cutting for the new facility in Ross County.
A large crowd filled a room in the “James Hagen Crisis Care Center” at 11485 County Road 550 for the ceremony on July 21st, 2026. The almost-completed facility sits next to the US 35 interchange, but awaits finishing touches and occupancy permits before becoming operational this fall.
The Crisis Care Center was implemented and will be operated by Coleman Health Services, for the Paint Valley Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health (ADAMH) Board. Both organizations were represented at the ceremony.
Hattie Tracy, president & CEO for Coleman Health Services, explained that they provide services in 58 Ohio counties, and are contracting with the local ADAMH board. She said the focus is on crisis services to divert people in mental health or substance use crisis from jail cells or emergency rooms – currently the only spaces available for such crisis situations.
Tracy said, and the handout for the event listed, that the new facility will cover both voluntary and involuntary intake. It will be open 24/7 to provide triage and assessment for such crises as anxiety, depression, and thoughts of harm.
The almost 14,000-square-foot building has five main areas. For people brought in by law enforcement, there is a secure and safe 23-hour involuntary unit. Those being treated can stay seven to 14 days for support.
Tracy said they are already doing adult mobile crisis services and mobile response for those age 20 and under.
She said the facility builds on the current care available in the area, since there are no other services like this in five-county area – and it will be far better than hospital emergency rooms or jail cells. She pointed out that this is one of only three such facilities in their system in Ohio.
The namesake, Dr. James Hagen, spoke in the event. He had retired from decades in the Scioto Paint Valley Mental Health agency, a partner with the local ADAMH board. Hear him, as well as Tracy and others, in the below videos of the ceremony.
Tracy said the namesake of Coleman Health Services, Father Kevin Coleman (no relation to this reporter), was a professor at Kent State University and died young from cancer. Coleman Services is headquartered in Kent, Ohio.
Anyone in crisis can call 988 (the 9-1-1 of mental health services) for help.
The Paint Valley Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health (ADAMH) Services Board has a website and Facebook page. Their purpose, from their website:
“The Paint Valley ADAMH Board ensures that individuals and families affected by mental illness and/or addiction have access to high-quality recovery oriented system of care.
“Paint Valley ADAMH Board was created in 1967 to ensure the availability of community-based alcohol, drug addiction and mental health services…[they serve] the residents of Fayette, Highland, Pickaway, Pike and Ross Counties in southern Ohio.
“The ADAMH Board does not directly provide services, but contracts with a network of public and private health care agencies to treat persons in need.”
The need for a Crisis Care Center was indentified in 2022, and a proposed site was announced in March of 2024. Construction of the facility was frustrated by public resistance to a proposed location on East Main Street in the former railyard in the East Side of Chillicothe in April of 2024.
Then a second location on County Road 550 failed approval in October 2024 because the 13-acre parcel lacked adequate road frontage for a driveway. But an arrangement was made with the owner of the former Glassburn’s Pottery shop for a shared drive, allowing construction on the site.
The flyer for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the James Hagen Crisis Care Center:
