San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Terra Lawson-Remer today advanced the County’s planned $240 million Behavioral Health Wellness Campus, moving the project into its next phase of procurement, design and construction.

The new campus will bring crisis care, mental health treatment, addiction treatment, residential rehabilitation and ongoing outpatient services together in one location — providing care to more than 22,000 San Diegans each year.

“For too long, our behavioral health system has waited until people are in the emergency room, in jail, or living on the street before getting them the help they need,” Lawson-Remer said. “We’re building something different: a system where people can get the right care at the right time, and move from crisis to treatment to recovery without falling through the cracks. That is what Care Before Crisis looks like.”

The approximately 120,000-square-foot campus will include:

• A crisis stabilization unit for immediate mental health emergencies;
• Residential substance use disorder treatment;
• A mental health rehabilitation center for people needing longer-term intensive care;
• A peer-led rehabilitation program supporting recovery and independence; and
• An outpatient community mental health clinic providing ongoing treatment and care coordination.

The County secured $99.5 million in Proposition 1 behavioral health infrastructure funding from the State of California for the project. The Board’s action Tuesday also adds $22.3 million for planning, procurement, design and permitting, bringing current pre-construction funding to $35 million and allowing the County to begin selecting the team that will design and build the campus.

“We’ve spent the last several years expanding crisis teams, treatment beds and behavioral health services across San Diego County,” Lawson-Remer said. “Now we are putting those pieces together into a true continuum of care — one designed around helping people get healthy and stay healthy, instead of cycling endlessly through hospitals, jails and homelessness.”

The project is expected to be completed by June 1, 2031.