Health agency gets funding

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — Southwestern Mental Health Center of Worthington is among 25 Minnesota agencies approved for federal funding in the 2009 omnibus appropriations bill. Nearly $7 million will be coming to Minnesota to help fund veterans, education and health care projects in the state.

SWMHC will receive $190,000 to help fund construction of a new mental health facility in Worthington. The funding was outlined in the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education section of the omnibus appropriations bill.

Scott Johnson, director of SWMHC, was quite surprised when he learned of the funding late Tuesday.

“We had a request for our building project way back when,” said Johnson, adding that the last he’d heard was that the $1 million request had been whittled down to about $200,000.

Johnson has not received official notice of the funding, however it was listed among 25 initiatives in Minnesota to receive money in the appropriations bill. The list was included in a letter e-mailed to the media by Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s office. SWMHC was the only agency in southwest Minnesota on the list.

“If it is true, it’s going to help ensure that our building projects move forward,” Johnson said Wednesday morning after trying to get confirmation on the funding. “I think it will be great for the city of Worthington and Nobles County, and it’s great for the Southwestern Mental Health Center.

“What it does is add to the infrastructure for public health for decades to come,” he added.

SWMHC has spent several years on plans to build a new mental health facility on the former Central School property in Worthington.

Those plans include the construction of a new Unity House for residential treatment, as well as office space to house all of the agency’s staff. At this time, staff is located in several different buildings in the community.

“At the moment, we are moving forward with the design and building of a new Unity House,” said Johnson. Plans are to have Unity House built and occupied before the end of this year due to the condition of the present building.

Meanwhile, Nobles County has retained a consultant to compile data on the mental health building and service needs of the county.

“(The consultant) is going to facilitate a task force involving a number of folks and agencies,” said Johnson. “Originally we had wanted to build the Unity House project and all of our office space on the same site. We couldn’t convince enough folks that this was the right project at the right time. The task force is being put together to look at those ongoing concerns.

“How this stimulus money fits into all this, I don’t know,” said Johnson.

One thing is for certain, however. Plans for new office space of the agency are only on hold.

“They’re not at all eliminated,” Johnson said. “We are hoping to work together with other folks — with other agencies — to make sure we are doing the best thing we can for Nobles County and for the area.”

The estimated cost for the entire building project is $3.5 million, with Unity House accounting for $1.5 million.

While Johnson said the Unity House cost is up-to-date, the total project estimate was last year’s price.

With bids on the Nobles County Government Center remodeling project coming in 30 percent below the engineer’s estimate, Johnson said they will need to take a new look at the costs.

“That’s why we’re excited about things now,” he said. “In a strange way, it’s a good time to build things.”

Tags: southwest mental health center, news, swmhc, worthington, funding, stimulus