Mobile County proclaims National Public Health Week; AltaPointe details BayPointe expansion and outreach

The Mobile County Commission on Monday proclaimed April 2026 as National Public Health Week and heard updates from local health providers on efforts to expand behavioral-health services across the county.

The proclamation, presented by the commission chair, highlights disparities in health outcomes by ZIP code and calls on residents to recognize public-health workers and prevention efforts. "A person's health status can differ drastically by ZIP code," the chair read from the resolution.

In an extended presentation, an AltaPointe representative told the commission the nonprofit's BayPointe Hospital expansion—supported in part by a $6 million county contribution—will increase inpatient psychiatric capacity from about 104 beds to approximately 140 beds and that construction is expected to be finished in mid-May. "It's coming along great... it has increased our capacity from a 104 beds to a 140 beds," the speaker said.

The presenter described three priorities: the BayPointe expansion and added classrooms for West Mobile Academy (a school AltaPointe runs for students with serious mental illness); programs for people involved in the justice system; and broader access expansion with new clinics, including a recently opened Citronelle site and a planned Saraland clinic. On justice-involved care, the speaker said AltaPointe has placed roughly 334 iPads across Mobile County in police cars, EMS units and other responder vehicles to allow remote connections to master's- or doctorate-level clinicians at the scene.

Representatives from Franklin Primary Health Center and the Mobile County Health Department also spoke. A Franklin Primary Health Center representative said the center is expanding services and will place a clinic inside the Mobile County Public School System. "Franklin provides that healthcare," the speaker said, noting the center's long history and outreach plans. Dr. Stephanie Woods Crawford of the Mobile County Health Department thanked the commission for the recognition and reiterated the department's role in providing services from birth to end of life.

Commissioners thanked presenters and asked staff follow-up questions about clinic openings and program details; staff distributed annual reports and the commission pledged continued partnership. The commission did not take formal policy action on the presentations beyond the proclamation. The meeting adjourned with the schedule set to reconvene Monday.