REDMOND, Ore. -- Deschutes County Health Services and its community partners will break ground next Tuesday on a new sub-acute mental health residential treatment facility for youth ages 12–17.

"The 16-bed facility, located in Redmond, will help close a critical gap in care that currently forces local children in psychiatric crises to travel outside Central Oregon for treatment," the agency said in Thursday's announcement, which continues in full below:

Community members are invited to join local leaders, practitioners and families at a groundbreaking celebration for the 9,200-square-foot project on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 1 p.m., 815 NW Canal Blvd. in Redmond.

The facility is funded by several major grants secured by DCHS and St. Charles Health System, along with funds from the facility’s developer. This public-private partnership is a direct response to a July 2024 St. Charles report, ‘Unmet Mental Health Needs for Youth in Central Oregon.’

The report revealed that a severe shortage of regional psychiatric services, residential beds and crisis placements routinely forces youth with acute behavioral health needs into inappropriate settings like hospital emergency departments (EDs) for days or even weeks at a time.

‘When a young person is in crisis, they need care that is close to home, close to family and connected to the people who support them,’ said Holly Harris, Deschutes County Health Services director. This project is an important step toward making sure young people across Central Oregon can get the right care at the right time, near their families and support systems.’

DCHS and St. Charles are leading a regional partnership to help address the crisis. Partners include Best Care, PacificSource Coordinated Care Organizations, Central Oregon Health Council and Headwaters Behavioral Health.

‘We believe this project will have a tremendous positive benefit for youth experiencing mental health crises in Central Oregon,’ said Molly Wells Darling, senior behavioral health director for St. Charles. ‘We are proud to be part of the engaged coalition that helped move this project forward as we all recognized that youth in Central Oregon deserve to have treatment options close to home.’

The new facility will sit on a 45,000- to 50,000-square-foot-site. It will include parking, a recreation yard, dining area, classroom, and dedicated group and family spaces.

After months of planning, Headwaters Behavioral Health, the developer and operator behind this project, has received approval from the City of Redmond to build the proposed children's facility. Headwaters Behavioral Health also operates a youth residential treatment facility in Idaho.

"There are limited resources for youth across Oregon," said Jim Sechrist, President of Operations, PNW. "We are honored to be building a program that keeps children close to their families and in their community while they get the mental health care they need."

Headwaters will provide treatment for children recovering from an acute mental health crisis or living with a long-term mental illness. The facility will offer customized, evidence-based care to each patient. Services will include medication management, therapy, life skills training, and academic support, so children can keep up with their schoolwork.

The length of treatment at Headwaters will vary from 14 days to several months, depending on the needs of each individual.

Deschutes County Health Services will sub-award federal funding and St. Charles will subaward $750,000 from Central Oregon Health Council to Headwaters to help pay for construction.

Total secured construction funding includes a $3 million Oregon Health Authority grant and over $3 million from the Oregon Department of Administrative Services' lottery revenue bonds. Headwaters is also contributing funds to help with construction and startup costs.

Deschutes County commissioners on Wednesday approved acceptance of the $3 million OHA grant that DCHS will sub-award to Headwaters for development and construction costs.

Health Services secured an additional $1.3 million through Congressionally Directed Spending – Community Project Funding, which will support the remaining construction costs. The estimated total cost to develop the facility is $8.78 million, exclusive of contingency funding.

Commissioner Patty Adair said the 16-bed youth project will mean "we have added 32 beds this year for mental health in our region."

Colleague Tony DeBone praised the "very positive" development, adding: "We know we need it."