Letter: Area deserves bigger mental health hospital

Tuesday, April 6, 2004 | 9:14 a.m.

But the state was not sincere in its dealings with the residents who live near the hospital's planned location at Jones and Oakey boulevards. If there had been more honesty and transparency in the process, there might have been compromises reached.

The Las Vegas Planning Commission rubber-stamped the state's proposal despite opposition from more than 500 residents. The City Council, after getting mixed messages from some members of the Legislature, did not act and left the final decision to Guinn.

Now there is an opportunity to look for an alternative site, one that is centrally located. If this is not possible, the residents must be given an opportunity to reach a compromise with the state, in an open process.

I do not think that $32 million should be spent for a gain of just 47 mental health beds, bringing the total to about 150. The national standard for a city with our population of 1.6 million is 500 beds -- and this doesn't take into account our millions of visitors each year. Also, about 30 percent of our homeless people (there are up to 10,000 of them) are mentally ill. If there are only 150 mental health beds, our mentally ill patients will not get the care they need and deserve. Our population growth will make even a 500-bed facility inadequate within a decade.

All facets of our population deserve the best in mental health service and $32 million should provide it.

FRANK PERNA