Lakeview Center history

With the passage of the 1963 Community Mental Health Act, federal funding became available for the construction and staffing of mental health centers in cities across the United States.

Using federal grants, local matching funds and land donated by Baptist Hospital, the three-building facility was completed in July 1968.

24, 1969, the Clinic's name was changed to the Community Mental Health Center of Escambia County.

The Lakeview Center affiliate began in 1986 and has grown to be one of the largest employers of people with disabilities under the AbilityOne© Program.

The 1987 opening of a Crisis Stabilization Unit to provide short-term inpatient care to people experiencing mental health emergencies.

The 1996 affiliation with Baptist Health Care, which made Lakeview Center responsible for the operation of The Friary in Gulf Breeze and Avalon Center in Milton.

Replacing Doctor Eaddy as Lakeview Center's president and chief executive officer was Gary Bembry, a certified public accountant who joined Lakeview as its chief financial officer in 1997.

Since 2001 Lakeview Center has been the lead agency in a network responsible for the safety, stability and well-being of abused, neglected or abandoned children in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties.

The 2012 opening of the three-story 48,600 square-foot Melba B. Meyer Children's Services Center, which allows Lakeview Center to offer all of its outpatient services for children in a single location.

In January 2016 Gulf Coast Enterprises (GCE) and Vocational Services (SVS) transitioned into Global Connections to Employment, Inc. (GCE) functioning as an affiliate of Lakeview Center rather than a division.

In February of 2019 Lakeview Center expanded behavioral health services by entering into an affiliation agreement with Chautauqua Healthcare Services (CHCS) in Defuniak Springs.

In January 2020, Lakeview Behavioral Health became the first Florida member to join the Hazelden Betty Ford Patient Care Network (PCN) to expand addiction treatment services in Northwest Florida.