Sherman approves youth mental health facility
Herald DemocratFeb 19, 2019
"This is going in the newest building they have," Director of Developmental Services
The council's approval came following a public hearing that saw no one come forward to address the request for a specific-use permit, other than
"Mental health care needs a lot of help in the state of
Council member
"I know that adding a second floor will potentially mean adding staff and adding revenue for the city," Stevenson said. "They (Carrus) have been a great operator and a great partner since they've been here."
Rains told the commission in January that plans had changed from when the medical office building was first approved because of the nature of the health care industry.
"I am aware there is another behavioral hospital in
Rains previously said roughly 17,000 square feet of the building will be dedicated to patient care, while approximately 11,000 square feet will be leased to a dialysis center. He also noted there will be separate entrances for the behavioral patients and the dialysis patients.
Stevenson said he didn't feel the proposed facility being near a residential area was an issue.
"Where it's positioned, they're already doing business there," Stevenson said. "They've got plenty of parking. They're not making a lot of noise, hopefully, over there. So that's not a concern."
When that issue was raised at the commission meeting last month, Rains said his staff's intent will be to focus on children and leave the adult patient needs to other facilities. Rains said he also plans to bring in a child psychiatrist.
"When you put it into practical stances, nobody wants to see a 3- or 4-year-old be in abusive situations," Rains said. "It is going to be more of a transformational child and adolescent facility. I am going to let someone else take care of adults as there are plenty of other facilities of that type."
Rains also said
"We have already gotten a lot of input from the community as far as the type of facility we are building," Rains said.
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