Compass Health Center Announces Expansion to Maryland Addressing Urgent Need for Quick Access to Comprehensive Mental Health Care In-person and Virtually Across the State

SILVER SPRING, MD, July 18, 2023 - Compass Health Center, the leading provider of non-hospital intermediate-level behavioral health services in Illinois, announced today the launch of services in Silver Spring, Maryland, beginning in September 2023. The company will immediately address the dearth of mental health care available in the state in addition to creating more than 100 new jobs.  This expansion is part of the organization's mission to bridge the behavioral health care gap in the state, offering patient-centered care, both in-person in Silver Spring and virtually across Maryland.

In Maryland, 1M + children and adults struggle with mental health conditions, impacting individuals, families, and communities across the state. High school students with depression are over twice as likely to drop out than their peers. Shockingly, 45.5% of Marylanders aged 12-17 with depression received no care last year. Furthermore, 188,000 adults in Maryland had thoughts of suicide in the past year. These statistics highlight our communities' urgent need for comprehensive mental health care and support.

Compass Health Center, based in Chicago, was co-founded by esteemed child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrists, Dr. David Schreiber, MD, and Dr. Claudia Welke, MD. Their unique model of care, grounded in their hospital inpatient experiences, aims to prevent costly and distressing ER visits and inpatient hospitalizations while providing a more effective level of care.

Unique to Compass Health Center is its commitment to quick access, termed "speed to care," ensures assessments within 24 hours of initial inquiry to prevent unnecessary ER visits and inpatient admissions. Further, psychiatric evaluations are conducted within 24-48 hours of starting the program.

"Compass Health Center has always been driven by a mission to provide timely and specialized mental health care to those in need. As we see alarming trends of mental health issues rising across the nation, it is crucial to bring our proven model of care to the people of Maryland," says David Schreiber, MD, CEO and co-founder of Compass Health Center. "By expanding our services here, we hope to provide much-needed support to the local community, contribute to the state's economy by creating numerous job opportunities, and pioneer a new standard for mental health care that is accessible, effective, and patient-centric."

Leading the expansion in Maryland are the new Clinical Vice President, Erin E. VanLuven, LCSW-C, an expert in multi-site, multi-state, integrated psychiatric care delivery, and the Medical Director, Dr. Marissa Leslie, a Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist with over 20 years of leadership and clinical experience. Their combined expertise will steer Compass's multidisciplinary team in offering Partial Hospitalization (PHP), Intensive Outpatient (IOP), Outpatient Psychiatry, and Compass Echo, an evidenced-based program designed to support Compass patients transitioning from IOP. These services cater initially to individuals aged 12 to adulthood. Compass Maryland plans to further expand its care to children aged 12 and younger later in the year.

"Launching these programs to the Maryland community is an incredible opportunity for myself, our launch team and for Compass Health Center as a whole. As clinicians, we are committed to breaking down the stigma, providing equitable and timely access to high quality and evidence-based mental health care and supporting the people of Maryland who are struggling with very real mental health difficulties,” said Erin VanLuven, Vice President and Site Leader, Compass Health Center – Maryland.

“There are not a lot of partial hospitalization or intensive outpatient resources in the Maryland community today, some but not enough to meet the need. Our hope is really to work collaboratively with the healthcare community to provide a necessary service that can decrease ER visits and inpatient admissions and increase the health outcomes of the individuals we serve. High quality mental health treatment saves lives, increases quality of life and decreases physical health problems and problems associated with employee burn-out. The people of Maryland deserve these services and we are honored to partner with the community to make them accessible,” VanLuven continued. 

In addition to the in-person services in Silver Spring, Compass Health Center is extending its reach to all corners of the state through its virtual services. "Our virtual services are designed to transcend geographical boundaries and ensure that anyone in Maryland, regardless of their location, has access to the high-quality psychiatric and behavioral health care they need," said Dr. Schreiber. "In a world where many are unable to access traditional forms of care due to distance or time constraints, we believe our approach offers an essential solution."

Compass Health Center is now scheduling assessments, ahead of its September launch. Upon launch, Compass plans to be in network with most Commercial Insurance carriers.

For more information about Compass Health Center and our comprehensive mental health services, visit our website compasshealthcenter.net.

As seen in  AP News, Yahoo Finance, Boston Herald.

Contact Information:
Kelly Jones
SVP, Strategic Partnerships and Marketing, Compass Health Center
Phone 312-404-4127 | kjones@compasshealthcenter.net