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WARREN, Mich. (FOX 2) - The colors in the Judson Center are painted yellow. The shade is soothing to patients with mental illness.
Everything in the center is for that purpose.
However, even with care those with a mental illness still die on average 25 years earlier than those without. The reason is they don't get their primary medical care.
"You have someone with diabetes for example, that comes with a lot of maintenance and a lot of hard work to make sure that they stay healthy," said Melissa Peters, the directr of behavioral health services at the center.
However, Peters said if they have poor lifestyle habits with eating or not exercising, then their health can fail. That's about to change however.
Starting in March, the Judson Center, located in Warren, will be offering mental health assistance and primary health care.
"If they're being seen here at teh center by their counselor or their psychiatrist, and we can see there is some other issue going on, we have a clinic here," said Lenora Hardy-Foster, CEO of the center, "if they would like to they could be seen by the medical clinic."
You can find more info at Judsoncenter.org.