UC San Diego Health and San Diego County are set to finalise a collaboration that will significantly expand behavioural healthcare services.

The collaboration aims to address the urgent mental health needs in east San Diego County by establishing a new behavioural health care hub at East Campus Medical Center.

East Campus Medical Center was acquired by UC San Diego Health in December last year.

The new hub will feature 30 additional psychiatric inpatient beds specifically for adult Medi-Cal patients.

The transaction is expected to be finalised by 21 October, with the agreement closing on 31 October, pending approval from the board of supervisors.

UC San Diego Health has been collaborating with the county since 2018 to develop a comprehensive solution to the region's behavioural health challenges. 

The new hub at East Campus Medical Center will centralise UC San Diego Health's psychiatric services, enhancing the system's capacity to provide specialised care.

Supervisor Montgomery Steppe, who first introduced the initiative in May 2024, emphasised the importance of this development in meeting the community's needs.

The feasibility of a crisis stabilisation unit (CSU) at the East Campus Medical Center is also under consideration.

CSUs are vital in offering immediate care for adults experiencing behavioural health crises, potentially reducing unnecessary hospitalisations by providing an alternative to emergency departments.

The expanded behavioural health services are projected to be operational by 2026, subject to the timely approval of funding allocations.

Despite the new hub, UC San Diego Health will maintain emergency psychiatric services at its Hillcrest and La Jolla medical centre campuses while the county will continue its operations at the San Diego County Psychiatric Hospital.

Besides, the partnership extends beyond service expansion to include medical oversight and academic leadership from UC San Diego Health and the department of psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

University of California San Diego School of Medicine department of psychiatry chair and UC San Diego Health psychiatrist Jeff Daskalakis said: “This enhanced behavioural health services model is an emphatic response to the regional shortage of acute psychiatric beds, freeing up capacity in other medical units to handle rising emergency demands.”