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County OKs Lodi access center lease for Reimagine Housing project, ties clinic, sobering and transitional beds
Summary
The Board of Supervisors approved a lease with the City of Lodi to host an access center that will include an SJ Health clinic, dedicated behavioral health and mental health respite beds, a sobering center pilot and 40-bed transitional housing run with storefront services for housing navigation and veterans' services.
The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors on Sept. 23 approved a lease with the City of Lodi for the Reimagine Housing on Main project, authorizing county-run health, behavioral and housing services at 22–22½ South Main Street in Lodi.
County Healthcare Services Director Genevieve Valentine told the board the Lodi access center will “first include a SJ Health Center clinic within the access center where we will start with 20 hours of health services.” She said the clinic will offer wound care and other community medical services, not just services for people living at the access center.
The lease links several county programs. Behavioral health will operate eight beds for people with behavioral-health symptoms and four mental-health respite beds for post-crisis stabilization. EMS and law enforcement will be able to bring people to a sobering center pilot as an “alternative destination” instead of transporting them to a general hospital, Valentine said. After the access center phase, people will be able to move into 40 beds of transitional housing with storefronts where housing navigation, veteran services and other supports will be provided.
Why it matters: Supervisors said the Lodi project bundles multiple services — medical, behavioral, sobering, housing navigation, and veteran services — to keep people in South County and reduce the county’s unsheltered population rather than using “band-aid” approaches. Supervisor Rickman and others praised the collaborative arrangement with the city and county departments.
County staff described the project as a partnership with the City of Lodi and nonprofits to use ARPA and other funds to build an access center that serves the broader community as well as residents of the site. Valentine said the sobering center will be the county’s first pilot alternative destination, intended to divert people from emergency departments and to provide immediate care on site.
Board action and next steps: The lease and associated items were approved as part of consent items the board voted 5–0 to accept. County staff said the access center will connect with the county’s Be Well campus and other south-county services; no specific calendar for opening was given during the discussion but staff described ongoing coordination between county behavioral health, SJ Health clinics and the city.
Community reaction: Several supervisors and members of the public praised the plan; Supervisor Cardella called it a potential national model for integrated services. County staff and the city will continue implementation work and report back as projects proceed.
Ending: County staff said further implementation details, including operating schedules and partner responsibilities, will be finalized as the project moves from lease to tenant improvements and operations.
