County panel unanimously backs building new mental health facility

Milwaukee County should build a new and much smaller psychiatric hospital, coupled with a major shift of patients to a beefed-up system of community care, a County Board panel recommended Friday. The switch to a heavy reliance on outpatient care through private providers would start next year, while planning for building and financing a new county hospital occurs, according to the plan endorsed unanimously by the board's New Behavioral Health Facility Study Committee. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 9/12)