County leaders broke ground Thursday on East County's first crisis stabilization unit, an alternative site where those undergoing mental health crises can recover rather than in jails or emergency rooms.
The 14,000-square foot property in El Cajon is slated to open in the fall of 2025. When it opens, it will be the San Diego County's seventh crisis stabilization unit.
According to county health officials, the crisis units are open 24 hours a day, seven days per week and offer round-the-clock assistance such as intervention, assessments, help with medications, therapy, peer support and help connecting to other services.
"This is an incredible day for East County," said Supervisor Joel Anderson, whose Second District includes El Cajon. "One of the focuses I had was on mental health and homelessness and this is a big step in the right direction, meeting the needs of East County.
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"When I read the stats and saw what these crisis stabilization units can do and mean for a community, I knew that we needed one in East County."
County officials say the crisis units also assist local emergency centers by shouldering the burden of patients who are typically taken to hospitals by law enforcement. North County's three crisis stabilization units have helped reduce law enforcement transfers to the county's psychiatric hospital by 40% since 2022, according to Caroline Smith, the county's Health and Human Agency's interim deputy chief administrative officer.
Luke Bergmann, director of the county's behavioral health services, said the crisis units' play an integral part in the county's goals for expanding services and adding more long-term care and inpatient psychiatric beds.
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"This is one of the things that is most exciting to me about CSUs, because they are devoted to engaging people and connecting them, after stabilization, to continued care," Bergmann said. "They represent the first step to journeys to recovery and well-being that will, over time, make San Diego County a healthier county for all of us."
