Atrium Health Facility Celebrates 10 Years Providing Behavioral Health Care to North Mecklenburg County
The Atrium Health Mindy Ellen Levine Behavioral Health Center has cared for more than 100,000 patients
CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 17, 2024 – Since 2014, the Atrium Health Mindy Ellen Levine Behavioral Health Center has been providing critical inpatient and outpatient care for those needing mental health support. A 10th anniversary celebration for the center was held in Davidson, North Carolina, on May 1 – the first day of Mental Health Awareness Month.
“When we opened the doors here, this was a little, rural area, north of Charlotte,” said Jerome Menendez, vice president and facility executive of the Atrium Health Mindy Ellen Levine Behavioral Health Center. “Over the years, the Atrium Health Mindy Ellen Levine Behavioral Health Center has had more than 30,000 inpatient admissions and almost 87,000 outpatient visits. We have expanded with the growing needs of the area and will continue growing. We are tremendously grateful for the generosity of the Sandra and Leon Levine family, who have helped make this level of specialized care accessible to those who need it.”
Shortly after the behavioral health center opened, the Levine family donated $3 million to support mental health resources. As part of the anniversary celebration with Atrium Health leaders and teammates, Sandra Levine was joined by her children Howard Levine and Lori Sklut. Mindy Ellen Levine, who was their third child, passed away in 1988, after an extended illness at the age of 25.
As tokens of appreciation, the Levine family was presented with artwork, a thank you card signed by center teammates and a commemorative coin.
“The Leon Levine Foundation is proud to have helped launch the Atrium Health Mindy Ellen Levine Behavioral Health Center in Davidson," said Tom Lawrence, president and CEO of The Leon Levine Foundation. “We’d like to convey our sincere thanks and appreciation to the outstanding clinical and supportive staff that has made such a profound impact on the mental health of so many of our community members and their families over the past 10 years. The work done there every day remains a fitting tribute to the kind and beautiful spirit of Mindy Ellen Levine.”
Nearly 30 of the original teammates from the center’s opening day still work at the behavioral health center, including therapists, nurses, security officers and physicians.
“These dedicated employees and all staff work each of their shifts with unwavering compassion and dedication to our patients,” noted Menendez.
“I enjoy working here because I get to watch our patients come in needing our specialized help and care, and then I get to watch them leave in a better mental health state,” said Mike Bennett, an Atrium Health security officer who has worked at the center since its opening.
The Mindy Ellen Levine Behavioral Health Center is a state-of-the-art inpatient psychiatric hospital with 66 inpatient beds for adult care. It has three nursing units: one for the treatment of mood disorders, such as major depression and bipolar disorder; one devoted to dual diagnosis treatment for patients with acute psychiatric illness and co-occurring substance abuse issues; and one unit specializing in maternal wellness for women struggling with mental illness during pregnancy.
Features at the behavioral health center include comfort lounges for patients to practice coping skills, an on-site gymnasium and an inner courtyard with a labyrinth. Outpatient care includes adult, adolescent and child therapy and a peripartum and postpartum behavioral health group therapy program.
In the future, planned services will allow the behavioral health center to perform transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment, a procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain to improve symptoms of major depression.