ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Dozens of community members and local leaders gathered Friday to cut the ribbon on a new facility our state has needed for years.

“In New Mexico, there are over 300,000 adults who need behavioral health services. There are over 200,000 children that need behavior health services,” said Dr. Michael Richards, senior vice president of Clinical Affairs at UNM Health Services. “Of that group with these needs, only 44% of the adults and only 37% of those children get the care that they need.”

The center is the result of a partnership between UNM and Bernalillo County. Each entity pitched in $20 million, and it’s been in the works since 2018. 

This is one of the 16 rooms in the crisis triage center. It’s meant to hold people for up to two weeks for a voluntary stay, and it even features private bathrooms for patients. There’s even a space for children. 

“We have numbers that show, especially with adolescence, that the number of minors who have come to emergency services has catapulted. Unfortunately, it hasn’t plateaued, it keeps going up,” said Dr. Mauricio Tohen, chairmen of UNM’s Department of Psychiatry.

The pediatric emergency services area features three bedrooms and an additional room for parents to observe their child when they come in.

Tohen says the center has varying levels of help for people from first time patients to those who need longer, more intensive care. 

The center also has a dedicated space for law enforcement, and other agencies that often care for and drop off patients. For example, Albuquerque Community Safety. 

“As you know, ACS is 24/7 and this is going to be a great asset, and it’s something that we’ve needed for a very long time. We are very grateful and excited to have this as  a resource for our responders out in the field,” said ACS Deputy Director Jasmine Desiderio. 

The center is also close to the main UNM hospital at Vasser and Marble. Officials say this will be better for patients if they need more critical treatment.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was at Friday’s ribbon cutting. She’s called a special session for next month, and competency bills are her priority. 

Lujan Grisham hammered home the need for the services that are offered at the center. and how it plays into what the special session is all about. Specifically, the need for access to care in a variety of ways or through a court ordered competency or civil commitment process. 

“We put people at risk, and we put the people around them at risk. Risk multiplies quickly, particularly in a behavior health environment. That is exactly why I am calling on legislators to hold a special session in July to create tools for people who can’t walk in on their own,” said Lujan Grisham. 

Competency is just one of five areas of public safety the governor wants lawmakers to focus on. 

The special session starts July 18.