San Diego Snags $99.5M For Midway Behavioral Health Campus

San Diego County just landed what local leaders are calling a game‑changing check for mental health care: a $99.5 million state grant to build a new Behavioral Health Wellness Campus in the Midway District. County officials say it is the largest award from the latest round of Proposition 1 funding.

The campus is pitched as a “care‑before‑crisis” hub, with crisis stabilization, residential treatment, outpatient services and peer respite all under one roof. County leaders say that kind of one‑stop setup will significantly expand local capacity for mental‑health and addiction treatment. The award follows a statewide round of Prop 1 grants announced earlier this week.

Supervisor Terra Lawson‑Remer posted photos and wrote that San Diego “just secured $99.5 million” for the campus, calling it the largest award her office saw in the most recent Prop 1 round, according to Supervisor Terra Lawson‑Remer. The statewide round of Bond BHCIP awards was announced on March 11, 2026, directing roughly $1.18 billion into 66 projects across California, as detailed by the Governor’s office. County staff and state officials will now move to finalize grant agreements and begin planning, county leaders said.

What's planned for the Midway campus

The proposed campus would include a crisis stabilization unit, a 24/7 mental‑health rehabilitation center, an adult residential substance‑use treatment facility, an outpatient community clinic and a peer‑run social rehabilitation (peer respite) space. County officials say putting all of that in one place is meant to cut emergency‑room visits, reduce avoidable jail stays and give people a clearer path from crisis to recovery.

The plan calls for integrated medical and behavioral services alongside peer‑led supports. County leaders have described that combination as a model they hope can set a national standard for coordinated behavioral‑health care.

How big, and where it would sit

County planners estimate the full campus will cost about $210 million and could serve more than 20,000 San Diegans a year, with work proposed for the former County Health Services Complex on Rosecrans Street in the Midway District, as reported by local outlets and county materials. NBC 7 San Diego covered the original project unveiling last October.

The county previously said it planned to apply for up to $100 million in Prop 1 bond funds for the site. The social media post from Lawson‑Remer frames the $99.5 million as the award stemming from that request.

Where the money fits in

The March 11 statewide announcement delivered roughly $1.18 billion in Bond BHCIP awards as the final round of Proposition 1 funding, part of a multiyear effort that has already put billions into community behavioral‑health projects, according to the Governor’s office. San Diego has already been tapped in that effort: the Board of Supervisors formally accepted $29.8 million from Prop 1 in June 2025 for two county‑led treatment projects, the county’s news office notes.

County leaders say that previous track record with Prop 1 grants helped shape their larger bid for a dedicated Midway behavioral‑health campus.

Next steps and timeline

Officials say the new award now has to move through a familiar government gauntlet: grant‑agreement paperwork, design, environmental review and permitting all have to be completed before construction can begin. That process typically takes many months.

The state’s BHCIP data dashboards list the Round 2 awardees and provide a public record of grant amounts and project types for communities tracking progress, including downloadable award data. County leaders did not provide a firm construction timeline in the social media post, saying only that work will begin as soon as the legal and planning steps are complete.

Why it matters

Advocates say the campus model could ease pressure on emergency rooms and the homeless service system while giving people a more direct route to recovery. “For too long, families have been forced to navigate a maze of disconnected programs in their worst moments,” Lawson‑Remer has said, framing the project as a way to deliver coordinated care, as reported by the Times of San Diego.

County staff said they will post contract details and project milestones publicly as plans move ahead, giving residents a way to track how the $99.5 million award translates into bricks, beds and services in the Midway District.