Jory
Behavioral Health Ribbon Cutting Remarks
June 26, 2025
Good afternoon, everyone.
The First Lady was here to celebrate the groundbreaking for this facility last year, and it's an honor to be here today to cut a ribbon celebrating 16 new beds for Marion and Polk Counties for individuals struggling with serious mental illness.
For too long, our state hospital here in Salem has carried a weight that no single facility can or should be expected to support. It’s a problem that our whole country has been facing, just like Michael outlined. The state hospital provides compassionate, professional care, but the need and type of care the hospital is being asked to provide has outpaced the space and expanded beyond its intended purpose. We’ve seen this reality play out in delayed admissions, in emergency rooms holding patients, and in families waiting anxiously for help to come.
We know we have to do more — not with temporary fixes, but with a real, long-term commitment to expanding our continuum of care. That’s why this secure residential treatment facility matters so deeply. It fills a critical gap between inpatient hospitalization and community-based services. It’s a safe space for people with serious mental illness who need more structure, more support, and more time to recover.
This facility means that individuals can receive the intensive, therapeutic care they need in an environment designed to promote dignity, recovery, and reintegration. It means that we are relieving pressure from our state hospital and making room for every person who needs our help.
This facility is the byproduct of state dollars - in fact, this building received all of its funding from the generational investment the state made in 2021.
It’s proof that Oregon is changing how we think about mental health treatment in this state and working to increase capacity where it’s needed most. We are investing in a broader and smarter system — one that recognizes the complexity of conditions and meets people where they are.
This isn’t the end of the road. It’s a milestone on a journey we’re committed to continuing — expanding capacity, improving quality, integrating care, and reducing stigma. Because mental health care is health care. And because healing is not only possible, but also our responsibility to make it more accessible.
The City of Salem, Polk and Marion Counties, and the State of Oregon are coming together to not just cut this ribbon today – but to continue working in partnership to achieve a collective promise to do better and to ensure that every person with mental illness has the chance to heal and thrive.
Thank you, and let’s cut that ribbon.