State mental health officials want crisis center in Vegas

"It's imperative we have this," said Carlos Brandenburg, administrator of the Mental Hygiene and Mental Retardation Division. "I'm running out of room."

Brandenburg said the crisis center would have 20 beds for those who are severely mentally ill and who are a danger either to themselves or to the public. A scaled-down version would still run $5.8 million.

He made his pitch Monday to the state Public Works Board, which started reviewing requests from state agencies for more than $600 million worth of new building construction - three times the funding that's expected to be available.

The University and Community College System of Nevada heads the "wish list" with $308 million in proposed projects. The state prison system is proposing $104 million in construction projects for the 1999-2001 biennium.

The PWB will make its recommendations in late August. The 1999 Legislature will have the final say.

Brandenburg's division is proposing nearly $16 million in building and maintenance projects for mental-health facilities in the Las Vegas area; and more than $4 million for northern Nevada mental-health centers.

Brandenburg said a new 90-bed hospital is ready to go to bid in December at the Mental Health Institute in Sparks. But he added that funding is needed to rehabilitate other buildings at the institute.

A 1995 study shows the buildings, which are some 30 to 40 years old, are structurally sound but need upgraded floors, windows and electrical and telephone systems.

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