Community members located near Augusta Health turned out last week at an informational meeting to voice opposition to a proposed mental health crisis center to be located at the intersection of Lifecore Drive and Village Creek Drive in Fishersville.
Valley Community Services Board plans to build a $15 million regional mental and behavioral health facility that will include an observation area and crisis stabilization unit and has been evaluating property near the hospital for some time.
The Virginia Department of Behavioral Health has committed $9.6 million toward the facility.
On Thursday night, VCSB held an informational meeting with residents living nearby to try to allay their concerns about the planned facility on 6.44 acres.
The vacant land in question, assessed at nearly $550,000, is located adjacent to the Outpatient Pavilion for Augusta Health. There are numerous medical buildings located near the proposed site. However, its location is also near an apartment community as well as a neighborhood with single-family homes.
“Our concerns cover the decrease in property values; the safety issue for children, students, and neighbors; increased traffic in and around our community; and the lack of privacy for persons in a mental health crisis when brought to this crisis center,” said Joyce Hite, a Village on Goose Creek homeowner.
“If this request is approved … it will impact my neighborhood of Village on Goose Creek with 32 households, mostly seniors; it will impact Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences, Mary Baldwin University staff and students; and residents in the nine multi-level apartment complex where approximately 100 children meet at the intersection for their school bus stop,” Hite said.
Hite said it would also affect the Myers Corner neighborhood where new townhouses are currently under construction.
The National Institutes of Health shared an article on its website about the location of mental health care facilities worldwide. While most facilities would prefer to be located in urban areas or near hospitals, opposition is often linked to prevailing societal and cultural attitudes and the persistent stigma surrounding mental illness. While there has been movement to look at mental health care in a more positive framework, the article states, the geographical positioning of facilities is still impacted by stigma.
“There was a lot of opposition,” said Kimberly K. McClanahan, executive director of VCSB, in reference to the informational meeting held last week.
“As might be expected, everyone was in agreement that such a facility is needed, just not close to their property,” she said.
The matter will come before the Augusta County Planning Commission on Tuesday night. The property owner, Sunrise Investments of Augusta County LLC, has requested that the proffered condition, that the building height be restricted to 35 feet and that no single building shall be larger than 10,000 feet, be removed.
The 7 p.m. meeting will take place in the main board room at the Augusta County Government Center at 18 Government Center Lane in Verona.
Valley Community Services Board will have representatives available at the meeting. There is no public hearing scheduled on the matter.
VCSB has not closed on the property at this time, McClanahan said.
VCSB is hoping to break ground on the regional facility some time in 2025. If it is able to move forward as planned, the facility could open in 2027.
Related stories
For related stories on Augusta Free Press, search “Valley Community Services Board” or “mental health“.
- Location identified for $15M behavioral health facility, could be operational by 2027
- Regional mental health facility moving forward, ground-breaking likely in 2025
- Mental health crisis center has support; momentum stalled until location, funding secured
- VCSB working to respond to those in crisis; ease burden on hospitals, first responders
- Virginia works to build infrastructure for same-day care for person in mental-health crisis
- Region’s suicide rates almost double state, national average; treatment options in the works
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Crystal Graham
