DAC gets update on $2 million mental health center

Tuesday Dona Ana County commissioners got an update on the $2 million crisis triage center that has remained empty for four years.

The county spent $2 million from money they received for leasing Memorial Medical Center.

In February, ABC-7 aired a special report uncovering why it was taking so long for the building to open. The center is supposed to be a place for law enforcement to take people suffering from a mental illness for evaluation. It’s an effort to clear up the jail, which currently holds over 200 people diagnosed with a mental illness. It could also lessen the load on law enforcement. In ABC-7’s special report, Sergeant Robert McCord with the Las Cruces Police Department said roughly 60% of calls they respond to involve mental health. And that means officers take a lot of time waiting with patients in emergency rooms.

But when medical criteria was applied to the nearly 300 cases seen at Memorial Medical Center in a 9 month period, approximately 75 percent were not healthy enough to be transported to a center other than a hospital emergency room, according to Health and Human Services Director Jamie Michael. Michael says that would leave about 75 people that could potentially be transported to the crisis triage center. That’s approximately 8 people a month who would go there for treatment, in a 9 month period.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Michael told commissioners that only 3.25 people would be qualified to be evaluated at the building per week. She added she could not in good faith operate a $2 million building for only 3.25 people a week.

Commissioner Billy Garrett said while everyone on the commission is concerned about this, he suggested a work session should take place before any further action is taken.

At an upcoming work session, Michael says the county will look into expanding the scope of the building. Instead of just allowing law enforcement officers to bring in a person who is threatening to hurt themselves, they’ll look into allowing walk-ins or people who are released from jail. This is in hopes of having more companies interested in the facility.

Other commissioners agreed that a work session should happen as soon as possible. There was no date set.