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Houghton County backs plan to push for a behavioral health hospital in the Upper Peninsula
Summary
The board unanimously adopted Resolution #25-033 supporting efforts to establish an inpatient behavioral health hospital in the Upper Peninsula, citing long transports to downstate facilities and a regional shortage of beds.
The Houghton County Board of Commissioners unanimously adopted a resolution on Dec. 9 urging state and local collaboration to establish an inpatient behavioral health hospital in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Resolution #25-033, approved by voice and roll-call votes as recorded in the meeting packet, says there are currently five behavioral health hospitals in the state and none located in the Upper Peninsula. The resolution states that local law enforcement agencies are frequently required to transport people with severe mental-health needs to downstate facilities, a practice the resolution describes as costly, time-consuming and risky for officers and the public.
The resolution directs the board to work collaboratively with other local governments in the region and to lobby representatives in Lansing to secure state funding and identify local resources that could support building and operating such a facility. The resolution passed with unanimous support from Commissioners Britz, Janssen, Tikkanen, Keranen and Anderson.
Board members and staff said the step was intended to formalize county support for regional planning and advocacy rather than to appropriate funds at this meeting. The resolution includes language asking the county to identify its own resources that could augment state funds and to participate in collaborative efforts to make a shared facility feasible.
The board recorded the resolution in the clerk’s office and will plan follow-up coordination with regional partners and representatives in Lansing.
