County breaks ground on mental health treatment center

Oct. 2--City, county and state elected officials gathered virtually Thursday to commemorate the start of construction on a new mental health treatment facility in Sedro-Woolley called the Skagit County Stabilization Campus.

Crews from Faber Construction began clearing the site on Highway 20, east of PeaceHealth United General Medical Center, earlier this week.

When completed, the 16-bed evaluation and treatment center will provide acute, short-term mental health care, offering stabilization and connections to longer-term treatment.

The project is on a 10-month schedule and should be complete by the end of July 2021, Ben Faber, vice president of the construction firm, said at the virtual ceremony.

In a speech, County Commissioner Lisa Janicki acknowledged Skagit County is behind on confronting mental health and substance abuse.

"It does seem that so much should have been done long ago, but you can't look back," she said. "You just have to start."

Along with Commissioner Ron Wesen, she thanked outgoing Commissioner Ken Dahlstedt for his tireless work pushing mental health care on to the agendas of state and local leaders.

Janicki said she knows this project is just the beginning and that more and different mental health facilities are needed throughout the region.

Dahlstedt agreed, saying he hopes the county can expand this center as planned, adding substance abuse treatment services and developing it into a real campus for behavioral health.

The $10 million project is funded mostly with allocations from the state, an effort spearheaded by state Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro-Woolley, and state Rep. Carolyn Eslick, R-Sultan.

Wagoner, who helped secure a $6.6 million grant from the Legislature, said projects of this size and cost need everyone working together at all levels of government.

-- Reporter Brandon Stone: bstone@skagitpublishing.com, 360-416-2112, Twitter: @Brandon_SVH

___

(c)2020 the Skagit Valley Herald (Mount Vernon, Wash.)

Visit the Skagit Valley Herald (Mount Vernon, Wash.) at www.goskagit.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.