DRAFT SUPPORT LETTER
To be placed on City Letterhead
December 3, 2024
Matthew Chang, MD, MMM
Behavioral Health Director
Riverside University Health System – Behavioral Health
4095 County Circle Drive
Riverside, CA 92503
Re: RUHS Prop 1 BHCIP Round 1: Launch Ready Application for the Wellness Center
Dear Dr. Chang:
The entire City of Moreno Valley Council and I write to express strong support for the Riverside University Health System’s (RUHS) Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP) Application and the corresponding project. RUHS is expanding the entire Medical Center Campus in Moreno Valley to provide critically needed services to the residents of Riverside County.
There has been a significant increase over the last five y ears in the levels of adverse behavioral health conditions, which is exacerbated by the chronic need for behavioral health services in underserved areas. Proposition 1 was passed by California voters in March 2024 to improve California's capacity to addres s these concerns. Proposition 1 will make $ 4.4 billion available for behavioral health infrastructure and will facilitate development and construction of new acute psychiatric beds.
According to a 2021 study by the Rand Corporation, California needs more than 1,900 acute psychiatric care beds to ensure residents can receive short-term inpatient care for behavioral health stabilization and treatment. In Riverside County, there are only 77 public acute care psychiatric care beds for 2.5 million people that continues to rapidly grow.
As part of the larger campus expansion, RUHS will be filing a BHCIP application to build a 100-bed Wellness Center to serve as an inpatient acute mental health unit under the license of the RUHS General Acute Care Hospital. The Wellness Center will allow for the continued improved care of Riverside County’s most vulnerable populations and provide treatment services using a multidisciplinary approach 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This facility will serve as the gatekeeper to acute, subacute, and transitional inpatient and outpatient behavioral health facilities throughout Riverside County.
RUHS anticipates beginning the CEQA study in January 2025 and will take the City of Moreno Valley’s review and/or comments into consideration. Additionally, the City reserves the right to submit comments and engage RUHS in discussion in the future as this support letter is not related to any CEQA study at this time.
RUHS has diligently transformed efforts around enhancing the qua lity of services provided and expanding access by offering the right care, at the right time, in the right setting. The key to this strategy is an integrated continuum of care that ensures individuals have the appropriate transitions of care and treatment in the least restrictive and most cost -effective manner. The entire City Council and I support this initiative and respectfully urge your favorable review of this application.
Sincerely,
Ulises Cabrera
Mayor