A digital rendering of the planned Johnson Memorial Behavioral Psychology building that will be attached to the west side of Johnson Memorial Hospital.
Render provided by Johnson County
County elected officials on Monday approved spending $11 million in federal dollars on a new mental health wing of Johnson Memorial Hospital.
Appropriating the funding is a hurdle the project needed to get over to officially get started. The Johnson County government last month released plans for a new 17,400-square-foot 25-bed behavioral psychology wing of the hospital.
This is a long-awaited project for the county, one officials had been talking about for years, but never had funds to get it moving. It started to become more of a reality in 2021 when the county received $31 million in pandemic relief funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA.
The Johnson County ARPA Committee, which is made up of the three commissioners and three county council members, had been working on this project for over a year.
The ARPA committee first on Monday voted to approve using $11.5 million in ARPA funds for the project, which is expected to cost around $10.5 million.
Commissioner Ron West at that meeting said he had some concerns with the proposed use of the facility. His understanding during initial discussions was that this facility would be primarily used by the Johnson County jail and inmates who need psychological or behavioral health care and a bed to stay in, he said.
“If it becomes full of general population people, that’s not going to help the jail’s situation,” West said.
County Council member Jon T. Myers said he thought it was too early in the process to determine who fills up space in the facility. Officials have said part of the purpose of the building is to help the sheriff’s office and the jail, particularly the Crisis Intervention Team when they go on calls and need to send someone somewhere. The building is meant to help the community population as well.
“The general population of the jail and community corrections are in great need of mental health care … but I don’t think logistically, this facility is going to provide us with that,” Myers said. “We’re going to fill this facility up with people in this community … people where they can’t stand on their own feet.”
Commissioner Brian Baird at this meeting also pushed back on the project some. He said he was concerned about some lack of details on the project at the moment, including who was going to insure the building and how the types of patients admitted would be determined. If the county needed to continue to pay to insure the building, that would be a big cost, he said.
“I’m probably going to hold my peace on this … I just don’t think we have enough information, and I don’t know if we’ll ever get enough information,” Baird said.
Commissioner Kevin Walls said this is just the first step — getting the funding approved. More details are to be worked out later.
“One step at a time is to get the funds approved for the facility to get it built. Then we will step on with the hospital and get more into the weeds,” Walls said.
There was also some confusion near the end of the meeting because Myers motioned to send $11.5 million for the project, when Wes Harrison, the county’s independent building project manager, said $11 million would be enough padding for the expected cost of $10.5 million.
Baird voted against the measure and asked why they approved $11.5 million when they only needed $11 million. They then discussed that the ARPA committee vote is more of a recommendation, and the commissioners and council could appropriate a different amount to be used in the end — which is what both bodies did.
Following the ARPA meeting, the Board of Commissioners held their regular meeting where they voted to appropriate $11 million for the mental health building, instead of $11.5 million. That came from a consensus they could add more money as needed, and not tie up an additional $500,000 in ARPA funds they could use for something else.
The commissioners also voted unanimously to award the construction contract for the facility to Indianapolis-based Wurster Construction for $10.48 million.
Monday evening at the Johnson County Council meeting, members took the final vote needed to appropriate the $11 million. The appropriation passed by a vote of 5-1, with member John Ditmars voting against it.
Ditmars, who joined the council in January, said he wanted to see a business plan from JMH on the mental health facility. He was not against the project, he just wanted to see how the moving parts fit together, he said. He added the proposal seemed like an “incomplete package.”
“You aren’t hearing me say there’s not a need, but I would like to see more on the finances,” Ditmars said.
Walls was at the meeting and told Ditmars he would get him the financials he requested. He noted the county has been in negotiations with JMH in this project for the past year, and said mental health care is a need in the hospital. It is the highest transfer out of the hospital, behind acute cardiac events, hospital officials have said.
Other council members said they saw the need for the facility in the county, for the community and police. Council member Melinda Griesemer said a mental health care facility is needed in the county. She worked at Valle Vista Health System, and saw the beds fill up there quickly.
“The hospital is the one shouldering most of the work. All we have to do is give them the money. This is what the public is wanting,” Griesemer said.
Daily Journal Editor Leeann Doerflein contributed to this report.
