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The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors is scheduled on Tuesday to discuss plans for a youth inpatient psychiatric hospital, which could fill a chronic unmet need in the region.
The board is set to review a feasibility study on a hospital facility, located on the Valley Medical Center campus, that would provide inpatient mental health services for children ages 6 to 17. The services are critical for youth experiencing a mental health crisis, but families seeking inpatient care today have to travel long distances — in some cases to Sacramento or beyond — because Santa Clara County has no such facility.
Early estimates show it would cost $222 million to build the proposed facility, which would likely open in late 2023. Santa Clara County Board President Joe Simitian said in a statement that the hefty price tag is a “significant capital investment,” but a worthwhile investment in youth emotional wellbeing.
“I’m pleased that access to quality mental health care, particularly for children in crisis, is a clear priority for our board,” Simitian said in the statement.
The feasibility study proposes replacing the existing “Don Lowe Pavilion” on the southern end of the medical center campus with a facility that provides 24 inpatient beds, split into two units for young children and adolescents, along with a new Emergency Psychiatric Services (EPS) Department. The EPS department would serve children as well as adults, but in separate suites adjoined in the same building.
The facility would also provide what’s called a Patient and Family Support Center, which would provide therapy services, medical evaluations and peer support for patients before and after hospitalization.
The behavioral health facility would provide services to all patients including those on Medi-Cal, Medicare, commercial insurance and the uninsured. It’s expected to receive referrals from major hospitals including Kaiser, Stanford and El Camino due to the “lack of available community resources and high need for these services,” according to a county staff report.
Data for 2016-17 shows that more than 600 Santa Clara County youth were assessed for inpatient hospitalization and later admitted into psychiatric hospitals outside the county for acute care. The average length of stay for inpatient psychiatric care is between five and seven days, which can put a strain on both patients and families.
“It’s better therapeutically for these kids to be close to their community when they’re in crisis — close to their family, their friends and their own local mental health providers,” Simitian said in the statement.
The proposed medical facility is the latest in an ongoing effort to create a local inpatient psychiatric unit serving children and adolescents, following back-to-back Requests For Proposals (RFPs) in 2011 and 2016 that failed to come to fruition. County officials concluded that outside organizations weren’t best suited to take the lead on the effort, precipitating the latest feasibility study with Santa Clara County as the lead agency.
Supervisors are expected to review the study and give direction to staff at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 16. The meeting will be in the Board of Supervisors’ Chamber located at 70 W. Hedding St., San Jose, on the first floor.
