Gov. John Kasich delivered his final State of the State address yesterday. In it, he said he plans to rebuild central Ohio’s mental health hospital with money from the Capital Bill.
Kasich announced a new $112 million facility will replace the Twin Valley Behavioral Health Hospital in Columbus, which was built in 1977. The state psychiatric hospital is the busiest in Ohio, and also one of the oldest.
Local mental health advocates support revamping the hospital and providing more beds for patients. But the most important next step is providing support to patients once they’re released from treatment, says Terry Russell, with the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Ohio.
"After this is built, we need to make sure when these people get out of the hospital, they have a place to go. Too many now go right back to where they were and the illness comes back and is not helped."
Kasich’s mental health plan also includes $20 million that will go toward supporting young people’s mental health.
