Addressing a key need, St. Luke's expands behavioral health access in Magic Valley

The sky may have been gloomy, but smiles were bright as two intertwined ribbons were cut to celebrate the grand opening of a new clinic for St. Luke’s Behavioral Health Services in Twin Falls.

The two ribbons represented the chambers of commerce for both Twin Falls and Jerome.

“Since 2017, Jerome and Twin Falls counties have both been listed as mental health professional shortage areas,” said Dr. Michael Walton, St. Luke’s system director of behavioral health services. “This new clinic location allows us to expand access in the Magic Valley by approximately 12,400 visits per year.”

Twin Falls Area Chamber of Commerce ambassador Cari Eskridge served as emcee for the event. She also has personal experience with the importance of behavioral health care.

“As someone who’s struggled with mental health my entire life — and I’ve used St. Luke Behavioral Health — I am incredibly grateful that they’re here,” Eskridge shared with the crowd. “I can’t wait to see the impact that it’s going to make in our community.”

The opening of the clinic marks a significant milestone in St. Luke’s mission to improve access to high-quality mental health care to our communities. St. Luke’s previously provided behavioral health services at two separate clinic locations in the Magic Valley.

Located at 815 N. College Rd. in Twin Falls, the new location for St. Luke’s Behavioral Health will consolidate services and provide room for an additional 11 clinicians to expand care for adults and children. The move to a larger clinic was made possible by generous donations from the community through the St. Luke’s Magic Valley Health Foundation.

"We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all our donors whose generous contributions have made this expansion possible," said Dawn Soto, executive director of St. Luke’s Magic Valley Health Foundation. "Their support has been instrumental in our efforts to provide essential mental health services to those in need."

The foundation initially set a goal to raise $750,000 so that the building on North College Road could be outfitted and occupied to provide more services to the Magic Valley community.

“Just this week, we reached that goal, and in fact, have surpassed it for a total of $755,000,” Soto shared with the crowd at the ribbon cutting. “But we aren’t stopping there. We are now committing to raise an additional $250,000 to help pay for therapies and services for those in need of help who may not have insurance to cover the costs for care.”