Oregon has one of the lowest rates of access to mental health treatment in the country. (Getty Images)
Oregonians have another tool to keep track of the state’s work to expand the state’s behavioral health system.
Oregon is set to add by the end of 2026 another 465 beds for people in need of residential mental health or addiction treatment, according to projections on a new online dashboard that Gov. Tina Kotek and the Oregon Health Authority released on Wednesday.
That amounts to about 13% of the 3,700 adult beds that Oregon needs to add to adequately serve those who need more intensive care, according to a state-commissioned study.
“The state now has more information than ever before to meet the need with precision, and we are taking action,” Kotek said in a statement. “Though we will not close Oregon’s treatment capacity gap overnight, every added bed means more Oregonians will get help when they need it.”
The projection also will change in the months ahead, as state leaders work to fund more residential projects. In a Sept. 23 legislative presentation, Oregon Health Authority leaders said it would take five years and about $850 million total to bridge the gap between the beds that exist now and those needed to serve all Oregonians.
At that hearing, officials estimated that another 356 beds would come online by the end of 2025 – not 2026.
The current system, including Oregon State Hospital and inpatient psychiatric care, has about 4,000 beds.
The dashboard has information about projected increases to capacity, estimated beds in regions and projected timelines and funding for projects. It also shows facility type, such as residential and secure residential facilities.
“Oregon’s investments in mental health and substance use treatment are reducing our acute shortage in beds,” Ebony Clarke, the health authority’s behavioral health director, said in a statement. “We have more work to do to ensure that every person who’s experiencing a behavioral health disorder gets the treatment they need. The data we now have as a result of the study will be the foundation for the new pipeline of work in the next biennium.”
Providers are interested in expanding the system. The health authority put out a request for information seeking potential projects and, in response, received more than 60 submissions from 19 counties that would need about $400 million in state funding.
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