Though the windows are boarded up and the building is surrounded by chain link, the closed West Hills Behavioral Health Hospital still has crews inside chipping away at renovations, according to Washoe County.
“We are in the process now of getting it ready to reopen,” Human Services Agency director Ryan Gustafson told 2 News Nevada on Thursday.
“Construction has started. We have multiple teams who are working on what it looks like for credentialing, what it looks like for patient services, what it looks like to get it up to current standards for facilities. The building’s got some years on it, so we’re getting it up to current standards.”
In an interview last year, county manager Eric Brown said that he wanted to see the building open by summer 2024, but Gustafson says that timeline has been pushed out to late 2026.
When the county initially purchased the building for just under $5 million last year, staff estimated renovations at $10 million.
Now, Gustafson says the price tag is closer to $14 million, but he believes the project is worth the time and the money.
“We have a significant mental health need in our community, really across almost every population. When you only had two behavioral health hospitals in a county of 500,000 people, losing one of those is quite significant,” he said.
The county plans to reopen the building and preserve its initial function, as an inpatient behavioral and mental health hospital, but they’d like to gear the services toward children and teens.
At the time of purchase, Brown said that Washoe County wants to address the need for youth mental health services and prioritize early intervention.
