Since deciding last fall to open a psychiatric urgent care center, Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services President and CEO Mark Eastburg has heard from interested colleagues at care providers in the region asking about the possibility of replicating the model elsewhere.

Pine Rest Christian Mental Services was one of five organizations selected to participate in a federally-funded study on treating people with Alzheimer’s disease.

GRAND RAPIDS — The psychiatric urgent care center that Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services plans to open next spring represents the first step toward broadening access to behavioral health care across West Michigan.

As Grand Rapids adjusts to a new medical marijuana ordinance and as voters consider legalizing recreational marijuana later this year, employers continue to express uncertainty about the future.

GRAND RAPIDS — In a move to build a broader talent pool for future candidates, Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital began a medical residency program this summer to help groom new doctors specializing in treating patients with traumatic injuries.

Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services plans to pursue new partnerships around the state in 2017. CEO Mark Eastburg wants to create a network of hospitals and care providers that contract with the Grand Rapids-based Pine Rest to provide and manage their behavioral health care services. That strategy follows a model that Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital has used effectively to reach out from its home base. Pine Rest has 17 outpatient clinics — 15 in West Michigan and two in Iowa — plus inpatient and residential facilities. The nonprofit employs about 1,900 people and serves 45,000 clients annually.

Two Grand Rapids care providers have rolled out new initiatives that further expand telehealth offerings.