Contra Costa Health (CCH) will build a new mental health rehabilitation center and fill a critical gap in county mental health services, thanks to an $18.6 million grant from the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS).
The facility, planned for a county-owned property at 847 Brookside Drive in Richmond, will serve patients experiencing serious mental illness who need 24-hour residential care, but don’t need hospitalization. Residents who need that level of care must now travel out of the community – sometimes across the state – to find it.
“Right now, there is a tremendous burden on our patients and families, who must uproot their lives and relocate to wherever beds are available, during a time that is already extremely difficult for them,” said John Gioia, chair of the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors, whose district includes the future site. “This facility will help us to keep our residents in our community, where they are best served.”
The center is planned as a locked facility with 44 beds providing 24-hour, sub-acute care, a high level of care that is less intensive and longer term than acute care, which patients receive when hospitalized.
No facilities currently provide this service in Contra Costa County, CCH Behavioral Health Director Suzanne Tavano said, meaning that when a patient is ready to step down from hospital care but still needs 24-hour service in a locked facility, they are transferred to neighboring counties or farther.
“Our goal is to bring Contra Costa residents back home,” Tavano said. “People who need this level of care are receiving it in facilities located in the greater Bay Area and Central Valley. For at least 20 years, we’ve been working toward opening our own facility in Contra Costa, for Contra Costa residents.”
The opportunity arrived this month, when DHCS selected Contra Costa’s proposal for an $18.6 million grant through its Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP).
Voices from Contra Costa’s mental health advocacy community played a pivotal role in making the project a state funding priority. Currently more than 100 patients from Contra Costa County are receiving sub-acute care at facilities elsewhere in California.
“A healthcare system that includes a tiered array of Housing That Heals as part of a full continuum of medically necessary care will help mend our broken hearts and bend the harm curve for families like ours,” said Lauren Rettagliata and Teresa Pasquini, community advocates.
Pasquini and Rettagliata co-authored a 2020 report, Housing That Heals: A Search for a Place Like Home for Families Like Ours, that documents gaps in appropriate residential care for people who have mental illness, both in Contra Costa and statewide, and their own experiences advocating for family members who need care.
The state grant will cover construction costs for the CCH-operated facility. A timeline for the project has not yet been established.
5 comments
It would be nice if they could come up with dedicated doctors and therapists for first responders.
First responders are a different breed and need assistance.
Too many officers, firefighters and Ems are hurting and even ending their own lives.
Help can not come soon enough
Lazy K, you are spot on with that comment. Thank you for not changing the conversation to a political or should I say red vs blue or the many other directions we could go. How about sending our first responders some support and mental health check ups/ins before they decide to check out.
These services are for people who are mentally ill and cannot hold jobs , take care of themselves or run a household. My sister who is schizophrenic lives in a lockdown place all the way in Modesto. My parents had lived in Pittsburgh, and relocated to Lodi to be near her. Thankfully she is covered by the VA system, as she was in the Air Force. There were no options here in Contra Costa County. This is hopefully going to jump start more help for the people & their families who deal with mental illnesses .As for the comments above, stay on topic about the article above. These people are not a part of first responders mental health issues, who have access to mental health help through their jobs or even online. I am so thankful this new facility is opening , but we sure need more funding to build more facilities to help our family members who struggle with mental illness and need this type of care.
Laura
What facility help is online or through work?
Firefighters facility, IAFF Center of Excellence, is in Maryland. What is closer?
If a firefighter is a kaiser pt they then have to fight kaiser , who does not have first responder specialist, in hopes of getting in facility care on the other side of the country.
I would be happy for a place a little closer.
East County only supports criminals, they are treated better then first responders.
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