Developers break ground on secure behavioral health facility in east Salem

Over the next year, developers hope to turn a vacant lot off Southeast Lancaster Drive into a place that will give behavioral health patients a supportive place to get treatment. 

Opening next summer, Turner-based Community First Solutions plans to offer 16 beds for people with persistent, severe mental illnesses who have been ordered by a judge to receive treatment. There will also be some addiction treatment services for patients with co-occurring diagnosis.

The facility will be operated by California-based Telecare, which runs facilities in Portland, Bend and Woodburn.

A groundbreaking celebration at the site on Thursday, July 25, brought state, county, local and health care leaders including Mayor Chris Hoy, Marion County Commissioner Danielle Bethell and Oregon’s First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson. 

The full project cost, including construction, land acquisition, furnishing and start-up costs, will total around $13.1 million, developer Bryce Petersen said during a Thursday groundbreaking ceremony. The project is funded through the Oregon Health Authority. The general contractor is Salem’s CD Redding Construction.

Once it opens, the facility’s operations will be funded mostly through reimbursement for care from the state and insurance companies, Petersen told Salem Reporter.

Michael Gay, who leads government affairs at Salem Health, said in a speech that the idea for the facility came from a conversation with caregivers at the hospital’s psychiatric medical center, who described the issues with the system.

Oregon is short about 171 beds to serve people court-ordered to receive treatment, according to a recent statewide study.

“Unfortunately for this group of people, Oregon has very limited resources when it comes to providing treatment and providing housing and long-term care,” Gay said.

“This group of overlooked patients often cannot advocate for themselves and have experienced trauma from a young age. They’ve often cycled between homelessness, emergency rooms and jail,” Gay said.

“Their understanding of life is often defined by fear and corresponding delusions, and their brains perceive the world around them in ways that can be harmful to themselves and harmful, potentially, to others,” he said. “And for decades, this group of people has truly been left in the cracks of an inadequate health care system.”

A lack of community treatment options is a persistent problem for Oregon courts and judges, who often have few options besides the overcrowded Oregon State Hospital to send people who need mental health care.

The new facility is located off of Southeast Lancaster Drive, behind The Silver Dollar Tavern and across the street from the Regal Santiam movie theater. The owners of The Silver Dollar Tavern attended the groundbreaking and were applauded for their support of the project.

It will be a level 1 Secure Residential Treatment Facility, meaning that patients will be inside 24 hours a day. It will include anti-harm hardware, which prevents suicide and self-harm. It’s also designed to feel like a home, without the use of metal and concrete in the design, Petersen said in an interview.

“The furniture, lighting choices, the kitchen aesthetic, all that is sort of built with therapy in mind, and a step away from institutional,” he said. 

Petersen said it was exciting to see the project get broad support.

“It doesn’t matter what side of the aisle you’re on, people are excited and committed to bringing behavioral capacity to Oregon,” he said.

Local public officials on both sides of the aisle were present, including Mayor Chris Hoy, Marion County Commissioner Danielle Bethell and Oregon’s First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson. 

State Rep. Rob Nosse, a Portland Democrat who chairs the House Behavioral Health and Health Care Committee also spoke. 

Bethell, in a speech, called the project long overdue. She asked two healthcare workers from the Salem psychiatric crisis center to stand up and be recognized.

“They’re our first responders in this space. This facility is going to make their jobs incredibly more accessible. We have individuals living under the bridges and in our coves, in our communities because we don’t have a space for them to go to care for them,” she said. “This isn’t going to get us far enough. We need many, many more.”

Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251.

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