Mental health is an issue Gov. Butch Otter is working to address. The governor is calling on the Idaho Legislature to fund three more crisis centers across the state, including one in Nampa.
One Tennessee company is working to help fill that need.
Haven Behavioral Healthcare announced they plan to open a new psychiatric hospital in Meridian.
The new 72-bed hospital will be moving into the building at 2131 S. Bonito Way and hopes to begin treating patients by early next year.
“Any additional services to our community is a plus for everybody,” Chris Christopher with Pathways of Idaho said.
It’s a void the National Alliance on Mental Illness, NAMI, says the state of Idaho needs work to fill.
“Idaho is 49th out of 51 states and territories in terms of per capita mental health spending,” Eric Cawley with NAMI said.
The new hospital will provide inpatient care for those experiencing depression, anxiety, psychosis or any other severe behavioral problems.
“It's estimated that one in five adults and one in five kids deal with some sort of mental illness, and so here in the Treasure Valley that's 110,000 people. My prediction, those beds are going to fill up, and fill up fast,” Cawley said.
The long-term hospital will also help address another shortage in Idaho: psychologists and psychiatrists.
The Tennessee-based company is hoping to hire more than 200 professionals for the new hospital.
“Idaho is really lacking in psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and so anything that's going to boost jobs in those professions is really going to be needed,” Cawley said.
The announcement comes just one month after a new short-term crisis center opened its doors in Boise.
“It will actually help us as another level of care. I mean, for us being short term we're going to have folks that come through that need more long-term services. So, our staff can refer them up to that long-term care and vice versa,” Christopher said.
Since the crisis center open just four weeks ago, they’ve helped provide services to nearly a hundred people in our community.
“A hundred people in just less than four weeks is actually pretty good. I mean you think about all the different diversions we've had that law enforcement brought in,” Christopher said.
A new hospital and crisis facility experts say is helping to fill a large need on our community.
“These efforts are welcome, but we have a really long way to go,” Cawley said.
NAMI does provide free additional services, such as peer support groups and trainings, among many others throughout the Treasure Valley.
If you’re interested in finding out more about the services NAMI provides click here.