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Be Well campus wins $137M award; site conditions and design costs push budget questions
Summary
Behavioral Health staff said the county received a $137 million state grant toward the $260 million projected cost of phase 1 of the Be Well campus but that site contamination, dirt costs and parking have increased projected expenses; the award contract remains unsigned and planning approvals are pending.
San Joaquin County behavioral health officials said they have been awarded $137,000,000 toward the estimated $260,000,000 cost of phase 1 of the Be Well campus but that design issues and unexpected site conditions have raised costs.
Genevieve Valentine told the Health Care Services Review Project Committee that the county has not yet signed the state award contract and is “working out a few things with the state” before final execution. The board delegated authority for Valentine to sign the contract and staff expected an execution in August, with the state allowed until September to complete awards.
Valentine said the project has moved into detailed planning and now includes about a dozen technical subgroups (sewer, lift stations, grading and utilities). She said site work revealed the 20-acre parcel had been used as a dirt-dump for public works and general services, raising unanticipated excavation and fill costs and, in some areas, requiring the site to be raised by about three feet.
“There is a lot of dirt there that shouldn't be there. And so, people were also stealing our dirt,” she said, describing how that condition and added parking requirements expanded the budget beyond original estimates.
Valentine said the team is evaluating grading and installing sewer and electrical infrastructure for the full 20 acres rather than only the area for phase 1, because doing so could be more cost-effective in the long run. Planning staff will present the project to the planning council; Valentine said the County’s Community Development Department operational plan for planning is scheduled for the Board of Supervisors on the 29th.
Valentine also outlined planned co-located services at Be Well: public health intends to place a tuberculosis clinic of about 1,500 square feet on site; county health clinics plan an integrated urgent-care model that would operate as the medication-assisted treatment (MAT) provider for outpatient substance-use services; and staff are planning a sobering-center model and alternative destination agreements with ambulance and some law-enforcement providers to avoid routing people to emergency departments or jails.
Valentine said the county is in early talks with the local hospital to use its lab and pharmacy services for Be Well. No contract approvals occurred during the committee meeting; planning approvals and the state contract remain outstanding.
