Smaller county mental health facility proposed

Reflecting a dramatic shift from institutional care for patients with mental illness, Milwaukee County would replace its outmoded Mental Health Complex with a scaled-down version costing up to $100 million in construction and interest costs, under a preliminary plan unveiled Tuesday. The new complex would serve about 120 patients, fewer than half the number now cared for at the sprawling 1970s structure on the County Grounds. The expectation of fewer patients is based on a likely move to more community care and efforts to reduce the need for psychiatric hospitalizations. (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 4/20)