Center For Behavioral Medicine (CBM) formally Western Missouri Mental Health Center, is an agency for the Department of Mental Health, is located on Hospital Hill in the heart of Kansas City to provide comprehensive psychiatric care to patients from Kansas City and the seven surrounding counties. CBM serves as the University of Missouri-Kansas City's Department of Psychiatry, fulfilling academic and research needs. In January 2004 WMMHC moved into a new 220,000 square foot, 5-story facility.

CMB offers services in alcoholism, drug, family, group and individual counseling, crisis intervention, group psychiatric therapy, and suicide prevention as well as hospital inpatient care, mental health aftercare and psychiatric care. The hospital also offers an inpatient program to provide treatment for mentally ill patients who have co-occurring substance abuse problems.

Faculty in the department of psychiatry also provide clinical services at Truman Medical Center Behavioral Health, which offers outpatient services.

CBM opened in 1954 as the first racially integrated psychiatric hospital in Kansas City to serve patients of the city hospital system. CBM currently operates 50 adult acute beds and 76 adult residential beds. CBM has more than 200 patient admissions a month and more than 7,000 emergency room visits annually which is now screened by Truman Behavioral Health, specializing in active treatment for the most acute and the seriously ill.

CBM operates a four of group homes and a apartment prepadiness program in the community. By maintaining a close relationship with a wide array of community agencies, in particular the Truman Medical Center Behavioral Health Network, a variety of outpatient services are available at CBM and throughout Hospital Hill such as, psychological testing, psychotherapy, and medication management.

Through CBM's Services, emphasis is placed first on 24-hour observation, diagnosis and treatment before triage to the community mental health system or admittance to the hospital. In addition to residency training, the center also provides training in forensic psychiatry, addiction psychiatry and community psychiatry.

An agency for the Department of Mental Health, CBM serves as the primary site for the University of Missouri-Kansas City's Department of Psychiatry, fulfilling academic and research needs. Center for Behavioral Medicine (CBM) provides acute psychiatric inpatient services to adults from the surrounding seven counties.

The center has been recognized for its innovative, comprehensive services.

In mid June, Truman Medical Center began operating Center for Behavioral Medicine (CBM) formally Western Missouri Mental Health Center’s (WMMHC) emergency department and 50 of its 100 adult inpatient beds. The remaining 50 inpatient beds at the former WMMHC site, will continue operations, but under a new organizational name, the Center for Behavioral Medicine.

The Center will serve the Greater Kansas City, Missouri area and surrounding counties with intensive and specialized behavioral health treatments and services for individuals who require an additional thirty to ninety days of hospital care after a short-term hospital stay at another inpatient setting. The Center will focus its new services on bridging the gap between physical and behavioral medicine with an emphasis on wellness. Students, residents, and post-doctoral fellows will be trained at the Center to deliver integrated physical and behavioral health care. The Center will provide a therapeutic approach to healing that assist individuals to progress regardless of their limitations or symptoms.  This approach will incorporate skills based treatment models including psychiatric rehabilitation, dialectical behavioral therapy, and social learning.

An overview of the Center’s services: 

• Fifty Joint Commission accredited and CMS certified hospital beds
• Sixty-eight Joint Commission accredited residential group home beds
• Staffed by faculty physicians, psychologists, nurses, clinical pharmacists, social workers and rehabilitation therapists.
• Projected length of stay will be 30 to 90 days.
• Admission will be restricted to hospital-to-hospital transfer with pre-arranged time for admission.
• Admissions will be limited to patients who are in need of aggressive inpatient treatment and services after a short-term psychiatric inpatient hospital trial at another facility.
• The Center’s program will not provide the short-term psychiatric evaluation and treatment services previously offered at the former WMMHC.  Psychiatric emergency room services and court-ordered 96 hour/21 day civil involuntary commitments will be provided by Truman Medical Center at the former WMMHC site, or at any other mental health facility recognized to accept involuntary civil commitments. 
• The Center’s admission and aftercare planning will involve the patient/guardian, families and the Missouri State Department of Mental Health system of community mental health centers.

If you have questions about the Center’s mission or services please email your questions to: CenterBehavioralMedicine@dmh.mo.gov Post Office address: Center for Behavioral Medicine, Health Sciences Center for Psychiatry, 1000 East 24th Street, Kansas City Missouri 64108. Phone (816) 512-7000.