Guilford County behavioral health center nears fifth anniversary, expands crisis care
Guilford County’s behavioral health center handled more than 20,000 people last year, showing how much crisis care now runs through 931 Third Street in Greensboro.
Guilford County’s Behavioral Health Center has become one of the county’s busiest front doors for mental-health and substance-use care, drawing more than 20,000 people last year as it nears its fifth anniversary in Greensboro.
Opened in June 2021 at 931 Third Street, the center serves children, teenagers and adults who need urgent behavioral-health help or substance-use treatment. It is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and does not require an appointment, a setup county officials say gives residents a place to go when a crisis cannot wait for a scheduled office visit.
The demand is steady. County officials said the center logged more than 12,000 urgent-care visits and 18,000 visits to the adult outpatient clinic over the past year. WFDD reported in December 2023 that the walk-in urgent-care side alone was seeing about 300 to 400 people a month, underscoring that the center has moved far beyond a symbolic opening and into daily use by Guilford County residents.
The county describes the center as a timely-access option for children and adolescents ages 4 to 17 and adults who are in a mental-health crisis but are not facing a medical emergency that would normally send them to an emergency room. Cone Health also identifies the site as 24/7 walk-up access for Guilford County children age 4 and older, adolescents and adults. That makes the center a critical alternative for families trying to avoid the delays and confusion that often come with navigating a fragmented system.
Commissioners highlighted the center’s role at a recent meeting, where they also proclaimed May 2026 Mental Health Awareness Month. The anniversary fell during a month of local outreach, including a Mental Health Resource Fair in Greensboro on May 2, part of the county’s wider push to keep behavioral-health care visible and easier to find.
The center’s growth points to a larger challenge that remains in Guilford County: need still outpaces access. The county continues to steer residents toward 988 for crisis help, while the behavioral health center handles the immediate, in-person side of care. Five years after opening, the facility has become a permanent part of the county’s response, but the size of the caseload shows how much pressure remains on the broader system.
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