Lane County commissioners authorize purchase of Springfield site for stabilization center and 96‑bed psychiatric hospital

Lane County commissioners on July 29 authorized the county administrator to complete purchase of a parcel on International Way in Springfield for a co‑located Lane Stabilization Center and a proposed 96‑bed inpatient psychiatric hospital, a move county staff said is needed to advance the project and allow PeaceHealth to pursue a certificate of need for inpatient services.

The authorization, presented as board order 25‑07‑29‑08, came after staff summarized property due diligence — including a Phase I environmental site assessment, a threatened and endangered species review, geotechnical work, an ALTA/NSPS land survey and transportation and traffic analyses — and after public testimony from PeaceHealth clinicians and administrators urging swift approval. David Ward, Lane County capital planning and facilities manager, told the board staff found “no objections to the purchase of this property for the development of the lane stabilization center and Timber Springs inpatient facility.”

The project drew repeated public support from PeaceHealth staff. Joan Tompkins, director of behavioral health at PeaceHealth Medical Group, said the co‑located campus “won't be just a facility. It will be a lifeline,” and that colocating a stabilization center with an acute psychiatric hospital would “allow for seamless…