Las Cruces unanimously approves funding for mental health study

On Monday, the Las Cruces City Council unanimously approved to contribute $25,000 to a feasibility study that would look into building a public hospital to treat the mentally ill in Las Cruces.

The money came from the Telshor fund, which is used specifically for health needs, and comes from the city leasing Memorial Medical Center.

The study, half funded by the county, has been underway since October and the city and county will see its results on January 16.

Mental health advocates at the council meeting expressed the need for a state run facility in Las Cruces that provides long term care. Ron Gurley, a strong advocate, said his daughter is a mental health patient and he’s sees first hand just how important having the proper resources close to home are. Gurley along with Councilman Jack Eakman described how limited care in Southern New Mexico is.

“Mental illness is the third most expensive illness in the world and we’re dead last,” Gurley said.

“It’s actually, forgive the term, a mom and pop operation,” Eakman said. “Mental health services here in Southern New Mexico, they’re not conjoined, they’re not integrated and maybe one doesn’t know what the other is doing so people fall through the cracks.”

Once the results of the study are released, the city and county will then decide if they will ask the state legislature for money. Right now, there’s still no timeline on when a state run facility could be built. Eakman estimates it could be years down the road.