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The county Board of Supervisors Tuesday unanimously approved $23.3 million to build an East Region Crisis Stabilization Unit, which will offer treatment services for those needing urgent mental health care.

Crisis stabilization units are “places that provide immediate mental health support and treatment services in a therapeutic setting to people with serious behavioral health needs who require urgent care beyond what an outpatient clinical service can provide,” according to the county.

“The new East County facility is part of our ongoing plan to build out a functional, effective ecosystem of care for San Diegans who have been left out to dry through decades of poor planning and disinvestment in our support systems,” Vice Chair Terra Lawson-Remer said in a statement.

According to information on the board meeting agenda, the money for the East Region CSU includes $10 million in Mental Health Services Act Capital Facilities funds, $9.8 million in opioid settlement money and $3.5 million in institutional care hospital revenue.

Lawson-Remer said the facility will fill a critical care gap, where some ZIP codes have rates of mental health emergency calls in excess of 400 encounters per 10,000 people per year.

Appropriate care can de-escalate a patient’s distress level, prevent or treat a behavioral health crisis or reduce acute mental health condition symptoms, Lawson-Remer said. CSUs can also help those dealing also with a substance use disorder, she added.

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