Minnesota has a psychiatric shortage in bed. A new crisis center of West St. Paul will help fill the gap. – Star tribune

Trish Bremer stood in a room with sun, a large window behind it, and a cluster of cozy furniture nearby. Soon, people facing mental health crises will be able to receive help in this pastel-toned space-they will have a sense of imprisonment that can accompany hospitalization.

“A place like this does not really exist,” says Bremer, senior project manager in Dakota County.

Bremer was showing the Center for Crisis and Recovery, a spacious building right next to Robert Street in West St. Paul. Cutting the tape on February 3 will mark the completion of the project – and will limit long -standing effort to expand mental health services in Dakota County, characterized pockets on top And such strict support.

“This is a kind of care that is really needed in the community,” says Emily Shug, a deputy director of social services in the county. “But we are not resource across the country for these services in a way that really meets the need.”

A deficiency of psychiatric beds He has long struck Minnesota. Several factors, including relatively low payments from insurance companies to hospitals to treat mental health, can let the Minnesotans disappear while expecting psychiatric care.

The Center of Western St. Paul is intended to change this. The $ 14.1 million building, which relies on district, state and federal funds plus donations, is a partnership between Dakota and Guild County, a non -profit purpose with St. Paul. For decades, the group has provided short and permanent housing for people with serious mental illness, including schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar and borderline personality disorder.

The new building, an area of ​​15,000 square meters with dark wood details and wide corridors, will replace three aging, supporting guilds for supporting houses in South St. Paul. It is located only a few hundred yards from the northern center of Dakota County and is divided into two parts.

On the right, a district area with a place for two employees called the “place to go” will connect visitors to the immediate resources.