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Chairman Massey seeks $12M to add behavioral-health treatment beds in East Tennessee
Summary
Chairman Massey requested $12,000,000 nonrecurring to renovate facilities and add about 25 mental-health treatment beds to address an estimated 88-bed shortfall in a 24-county East Tennessee region, calling it a near-term bridge while a hospital is built.
Chairman Massey told the committee the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services needs $12,000,000 nonrecurring to renovate existing facilities and add roughly 25 treatment beds to serve a 24-county East Tennessee region. He cited a departmental study that the region is short about 88 beds now and could be 150-plus beds short by 2050, framing the appropriation as a one-time "Band-Aid" while a new hospital is planned.
"We're 88 beds short in East Tennessee now and we're gonna be 150 plus beds short by 2050," Chairman Massey said, adding that the $12 million would fund renovation (no recurring dollars) to add capacity quickly. Committee members asked no substantive questions during his presentation; no vote occurred in this meeting.
The transcript does not include specific project sites or implementation schedule beyond a one-year renovation estimate, and the appropriation remains a request requiring formal committee or floor action to take effect.
