How 988 Helps Hospitals & Providers

When your patients need immediate support for mental health or substance use concerns, CALL 988 is your backup team. Our helpline provides suicide and crisis services – or your patients  can call, text, or chat whenever they simply need a listening ear. We can also refer patients to local services for longer-term mental health and substance use treatment.

How to discuss 988 with patients

  • Everyone needs help sometimes.
  • You can contact 988 specialists for any reason, including if you’ve just had a bad day.
  • 988 is free, confidential, and judgment-free. It’s available 24/7.
  • Local 988 specialists are there for you. They can listen, provide coping tips, or connect you to community services upon request.

Maximizing Your Connection to 988 Services

  • Watch our 2-minute video to learn how CALL 988 can serve as your backup for patients with emotional, mental health or substance use concerns.
  • Already watched the video? Share with colleagues to help them refer  patients to 988.
  • CALL 988 specialists can also provide in-person trainings on how our services can  can benefit your organization or practice. Request a session below:
Request In-person Training

Bring CALL 988 to your waiting room

Invite BHSB’s Community Engagement team to table in your waiting areas to share resources with patients and loved ones. 

Request Tabling

Access free branded materials to display in your waiting areas to to  educate patients and loved ones about 988 services.  

Request Branded Materials

Frequently Asked Questions

CALL 988 provides confidential, emergency emotional support to anyone. We are the local responder for calls to the national 988 helpline. CALL 988 serves residents in Baltimore City, Carroll County and Howard County.

Our services include:

  • Regional call centers that provide safe, supportive, and confidential emergency counseling.
  • Calls are free and available 24 hours a day.
  • Referrals to longer-term mental health and substance use recovery services.

CALL 988 is committed to ensuring everyone in our community has access to the resources they need to care for their emotional health.

90% of people who call our specialists report getting the help they needed over the phone. This indicates strong first-contact resolution without needing in-person services for most callers.

Informing patients about CALL 988 helps medical providers by extending care beyond emergency room or clinic hours. Patients have access to free, confidential emergency counseling at any time of day or night. This fills critical gaps when providers are not immediately available and saves Emergency Department beds for other emergencies. When someone calls, they are connected to the closest specialized counselor, serving Baltimore City, Carroll County, and Howard County, ensuring that support is both local and relevant to the community’s resources.

If additional help is needed, counselors can refer patients to longer-term mental health and addiction recovery services. This helps reduce unnecessary Emergency Department visits and ensures that patients receive care suited to their situation. Accessing the service is straightforward, with only one brief prompt asking if the caller prefers the Veterans Crisis Line or Spanish before quickly connecting them to a counselor. This simplicity makes CALL 988 easy for medical providers to recommend and for patients to use during moments of crisis or distress.

CALL 988 provides immediate emotional support through trained counselors who listen, de-escalate, and offer compassionate, supportive counseling during times of crisis. In addition to addressing the caller’s immediate emotional needs, counselors can connect individuals to community services and other resources for ongoing care and recovery.

The service is designed to be low-barrier and inclusive, providing free, confidential help 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with options to connect to the Veterans Crisis Line or receive support in Spanish.

CALL 988 is relevant to a wide range of concerns, including suicidal thoughts, substance use, anxiety, depression, trauma, loneliness,  grief, or simply having a hard day. People can reach out for themselves or on behalf of someone they are worried about, ensuring that anyone in distress has access to caring, immediate, and effective support.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) and the Here2Help Hotline (410-433-5175) are working — and can also be reached by calling 988.