CLAREMONT — Expanded and integrated mental health and primary care services and improved access: Those were the highlights from remarks at Tuesday’s groundbreaking for West Central Behavioral Health’s 32,000-square-foot facility on Broad Street.
The planned opening next September will coincide with the organization’s 50th anniversary of serving the communities in Sullivan and southern Grafton counties.
At Tuesday’s event, several state and local officials listened as CEO Lori Shibinette described how West Central will serve people struggling with mental health issues and substance misuse in one location, with a variety of services. Just as important, Shibinette said, will be access when patients need it.
Following the roughly one-hour event under a tent on the Broad Street parcel, Shibinette said West Central will bring its adult services and child services, now at two separate locations in Claremont, and its 24/7 mobile crisis response team, now in Newport, together for the first time.
“We want to make sure we have all these services under one roof,” Shibinette said. “It will also give us space to integrate primary care so in addition to mental care, our mental health clients will be able to see doctors or nurses to make sure their physical health is being taken care of.”
She said one reason those suffering with mental health issues, statistics show, have shorter lifespans is because they do not have readily available primary care access.
The open access program, now in Lebanon and Newport, will also be available in Claremont. Shibinette compared it to psychiatric urgent care, where patients can just walk in instead of having to wait for an appointment.
“We want to create an environment where they can get the care when they need it and where they need it,” she said
The available access when and where it is needed was a recurring theme at the groundbreaking.
During her remarks to about 50 people, Shibinette said open access allows people to come in “when the time feels right.”
“They will be welcomed with compassion, offered hope and told help is on the way,” she said.
The plans for the new building actually began with discussions about 10 years ago but accelerated in the last two years.
Shibinette said the groundbreaking, upcoming construction and opening next fall mark another step toward “prioritizing mental health and reducing the stigma in our communities.”
U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., also spoke.
Hassan praised all those who worked to get to this point and said the new building will bring critical mental and behavioral health services to more Granite Staters in a setting that is close to home.
“This is going to be an important model for the community, the state and frankly, the country,” Hassan said about the combination of services being provided in one location.
Bethany Yurek, a staffer for U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, read a statement from Shaheen congratulating those involved for turning the “vision into reality” that will have the profound impact of delivering mental health services close to home.
In April, the planning board approved the site plan for the two-story building that will also house West Central administrative offices.
West Central bought the property at 209 Broad St. and the abutting parcel at 203 Broad St. for $950,000 in July 2025. The two lots have been merged.
The general contractor, H.P. Cummings Construction of Vermont and New Hampshire, demolished the vacant 6,700-square-foot former Moose Lodge and also two outbuildings last month. A 4,700-square-foot historic brick building on the property’s southeast corner is being renovated and will be attached to the new building. In total, there will be about 37,000 square feet of space for patients and offices on the more than 2-acre parcel. There will also be 111 parking spaces.
Plans were designed by Warren Street Architects of Concord.
Construction has not started yet, but the site is clear, with a layer of gravel over most of the property.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
