RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA News) – Treatment beds were opened Wednesday as the last phase of the Care Campus in Rapid City was completed. The goal is to provide addiction recovery options rather than sitting in jail. A day before, on Tuesday, the Pennington County Board of Commissioners heard from Joan King, Jeff Capobianco, and Jim Castlberry, who presented the board with the National Council for Behavioral Health Continuum of Care Report.

King highlighted a community wide approach in the report.

What was not included in the recommendations was a surprising finding that there is a psychiatric shortage.

King said the care campus is a huge resource for the community.

She said after visiting with sheriffs from surrounding communities they are also recommending a telehealth crisis service be implemented out of the crisis stabilization unit to support access to technology and a behavioral health provider on-site.

Other recommendations include but are not limited to – an increase in psychiatric beds, perhaps additional studies regarding children, and taking recently collected data by the Care Campus to track users and inform how users are moving through the system.