Salem adds space for court-ordered behavioral health treatment
Author
Abbey McDonald
Date published
June 27, 2025
View Original Article
For decades, Oregon’s overrun mental health system has put people with chronic and severe mental illnesses in endless cycles of emergency room visits, jail stints and unsheltered homelessness, with few escape routes.
On Thursday, health care providers joined state, county and local leadership to celebrate a new secure behavioral health treatment facility in Salem that they said will bring much-needed relief.
The Marion and Polk County Secure Residential Treatment Facility at 325 Lancaster Dr. S.E. will house up to 16 people at a time who have been ordered by a judge to receive psychiatric care. The 12,000 square foot building has two wings converging on a central community space and a walled outdoor area with a garden.
Though its residents won’t be allowed to leave, the design team aimed to make it feel like a home and not a holding cell. Each private room has a view of greenery through a secure window. Sinks, door handles and furniture are designed without sharp edges or the ability to be disassembled by patients, preventing self-harm.
Among those touring the building was Rick Dezsofi, Salem Hospital’s mental health program coordinator. He has for years treated patients in psychiatric crisis for about a week at a time, then discharged them knowing they needed long-term care, but that there was no place in the community to send them. He smiled as he exited one of the new facility’s rooms.
“This is hope,” Dezsofi said, looking. “It’s another valuable resource that’s still in very short supply. But this is beautiful, it really is.”
Jim Sechrist, regional president for the site’s operator, Jackson House, said it’s only the second Class 1 Secure Residential Treatment Facility to open in the state in at least 15 years.
Class 1 facilities are the highest level of residential care defined by the state. The facility will offer medication management, individual and group therapy, 24/7 nursing and caregiving support when needed for activities like daily hygiene and housekeeping.
Move-ins can start once the Oregon Health Authority finalizes the facility’s accreditation, said Bryce Petersen, a co-developer from Community First Solutions.
Placements will include patients who have been accused of a crime but found unable to assist in their own defense, those who have been civilly committed for posing a serious danger to themselves or another person and those placed by the state’s Psychiatric Security Review Board.
It’s an alternative to the Oregon State Hospital, which is the subject of a recent federal court ruling costing the state thousands of dollars. A federal judge found the state had not been admitting people from jails to the Oregon State Hospital within a seven-day federal deadline to do so.
There’s a general consensus between lawmakers and advocates that a major contributing factor to that backlog is the lack of space at the hospital, and the lack of secure placement options within the community.
The walls inside the new Inside the new Marion and Polk County Secure Residential Treatment Facility are damage resistant, and the door handles and furniture are made to prevent tampering and self-harm attempts. (Abbey McDonald/ Salem Reporter)
The mid-Willamette Valley region that includes Salem has secure treatment space for 106 people, and needs at least 36 more spaces, according to a June 2024 Oregon Health Authority study.
The new facility was built using $9 million in state funding, said Petersen. It broke ground last July, and was completed ahead of schedule and under its original budget of $13.1 million. Lawmakers set aside the money in a 2021 bill which put $130 million toward expanding Oregon’s behavioral health treatment options.
In a speech at the ribbon-cutting, Gov. Tina Kotek said the Salem facility is proof of the state’s efforts to better serve vulnerable people.
”This is better than a jail, this is better than the streets. This is about health care in action for folks who need it,” Kotek said. She described it as a smarter system that works to understand the complexities of each patient.
“We all know this isn’t the end of the road. We have more work to do,” the governor said.
Gov. Tina Kotek speaks at the groundbreaking for a new secure residential treatment facility, which will serve people people with persistent, severe mental illnesses who have been ordered by a judge to receive treatment. “This is better than a jail. This is better than the streets,” Kotek said. (Abbey McDonald/ Salem Reporter)
Getting the facility made required collaboration at the state, county and city level, and it benefitted from a receptive neighborhood.
Speakers said they already feel like the facility is part of the community. Among the attendees were the staff and owners of the adjacent Silver Dollar Tavern, who developers described as welcoming and patient with all the construction. The adjacent Regal Santiam movie theater granted parking access for workers, and the Southeast Salem Neighborhood Association helped promote the project, Petersen said.
Michael Gay, Salem Health’s government relations director, was described as a key player to making it happen. He said during his speech that there were times he wasn’t sure they’d ever make it to the ribbon cutting.
“This is a shared gesture from a community extending hope to those who need it most. These efforts take longer than we expect. They’re harder than we imagine, but they are worth it if they advance hope in somebody’s life. So today, this is not the end of a construction project. It is the beginning of new stories, new stories of healing, of peace and of possibility,” he said.
City, county and state leadership celebrated the opening of the Marion and Polk County Secure Residential Treatment Facility at 325 Lancaster Dr. S.E. (Abbey McDonald/ Salem Reporter)
A community seating area in the Marion and Polk County Secure Residential Treatment Facility. (Abbey McDonald/ Salem Reporter)
Gardening and basketball are among the activities that will be available to people getting treatment at the Marion and Polk County Secure Residential Treatment Facility. (Abbey McDonald/ Salem Reporter)
Designers said they sought to balance a home environment with security at the new facility which will serve people who have been ordered by a judge to recieve mental health treatment. (Abbey McDonald/ Salem Reporter)
