Clackamas County outlines new stabilization center, recovery campus plans for Milwaukie area

Clackamas County Director of Health, Housing and Human Services Mary Rumbaugh told the Milwaukie City Council that the county will open a 23‑hour crisis stabilization center and a complementary housing‑and‑case‑management program intended to divert people in behavioral health crisis from hospital emergency rooms and jails. "The intent of the 23 hour side of the program is really about avoiding unnecessary hospital and jail utilization," Rumbaugh said.

The stabilization center will operate 24 hours a day but limits an individual’s stay on the 23‑hour side; Rumbaugh said the average length of stay at similar centers in Oregon and Idaho is about 10 to 11 hours. Rumbaugh said the 23‑hour side will accept only law enforcement and the county’s mobile crisis response team as referrals; there will be no walk‑up intake at opening. The 23‑hour facility will be accompanied by a housing and case‑management program that accepts referrals from the county’s coordinated housing access line.

City Manager Emma Segor thanked county staff for coordination and said the city has been participating in biweekly planning calls. Rumbaugh said the county issued a request for proposals last November; the county selected a provider she referred to in the presentation for the 23‑hour side and identified Father’s Heart to run the housing and case management side. Rumbaugh said providers and county staff have engaged nearby businesses and plan door‑to‑door outreach, postcards and a future tour date for neighbors.

Rumbaugh described logistics staff are still finalizing, including a "good partner" framework (a neighborhood outreach and operations agreement) and protocols for when the facility is full or when transfer and transportation are needed. She said the county expects the construction work to be completed in October 2025 and an opening in December 2025, with a tentative ribbon‑cutting in early November 2025 if hiring proceeds faster than expected. The 23‑hour side will include nine recliner spaces, Rumbaugh said; the housing and case‑management side will have about 13 beds or shared rooms and will queue and wait‑list clients as needed.

Rumbaugh also described a separate, county‑led recovery campus planned on about 6.6 acres the county purchased (the former Clackamas Heights Public Charter School site). The recovery campus design includes two primary buildings: one for withdrawal management and residential treatment and a second for outpatient services and transitional recovery housing. Rumbaugh said the recovery campus is estimated at about $40 million, with roughly half of funding secured and the county pursuing additional resources from the Oregon Health Authority and other partners. The earliest construction start for the recovery campus was described as roughly summer 2026, with a multi‑year timeline.

Council members and other city officials asked operational questions about transportation, involuntary holds and information sharing. Councilor Stavenjord and others stressed the need for clear transportation procedures and asked whether the city behavioral health unit would be notified when a Milwaukie resident is served. Rumbaugh and county staff said they are discussing information‑sharing permissions and a possible universal release of information that would allow coordination with local providers while complying with health privacy rules. Rumbaugh said some elements — for example, the state rules for crisis stabilization facility involuntary admissions — remain under development at the state level and the county expects to learn from other counties opening similar centers.

Rumbaugh said the county and providers will publicly post information and FAQs on the county website and make translation services available. She invited City Council members to join a tentative ribbon‑cutting in November and emphasized the county will continue coordinating with city public safety and behavioral health staff.

Rumbaugh and city staff also noted the county’s broader “recovery‑oriented system of care” investments, including scattered‑site recovery housing, a caring place day center and a remodeled Lake Road Health Center, and said the stabilization center and recovery campus are intended to be complementary pieces in that system.

Ending: The city and county will continue coordination; the county plans more neighborhood outreach before opening the stabilization center and will return with additional details as protocols and transportation arrangements are finalized.