SpringfieldTuesday, November 3
Springfield council unanimously approves annexation for a behavioral health campus
The Daily Eugene team
If you've followed Springfield's behavioral health campus debate, Monday brought a big step. The City Council voted 5-0, with Councilor Alan Stout excused, to approve the annexation request from PeaceHealth and Lane County. It paves the way for the state's first behavioral health campus with both a crisis stabilization center and a psychiatric hospital on site.
PeaceHealth plans a 96-bed Timber Springs Behavioral Health Hospital, including youth beds that don't exist in Lane County now. Adolescents needing psychiatric care are sent as far away as Portland. The county plans a 24-hour crisis stabilization center.
The campus approval by the numbers
- 5-0
- council vote, with Councilor Alan Stout excused
- 96
- beds planned at Timber Springs
- 18 acres
- for the International Way site
- 7
- council meetings that discussed the request
Source: Lookout Eugene-Springfield
- Location: International Way, about a mile from RiverBend hospital
- Neighbors: a FedEx Ship Center and Richardson Sports
- Opposed: Richardson Sports and G Group, now suing over the state law
This was the council's only vote on the project. A new state law lets stabilization centers bypass city plan amendments and zone changes when they're built beside behavioral health hospitals. In the weeks before the vote, Eugene Weekly reported that 185 individuals and several groups sent comments backing the campus.
Supporters far outnumbered opponents in comments to the council
Source: Eugene Weekly
View as table
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Individuals backing it | 185 |
| Commenters opposed | 7 |
Sources: Lookout Eugene-Springfield, Eugene Weekly