photo by: Journal-World

The west side of the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St., is pictured on Sept. 23, 2021.

Douglas County leaders this week could take one of the final steps in opening the county’s long-awaited behavioral health crisis center: authorizing county staff to sign a lease and operating agreement with Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center.

The Douglas County Commission is poised to do so at its meeting on Wednesday, according to the meeting agenda. While the county hadn’t, as of Tuesday, released many details about those documents, the agenda does note that the facility lease runs from 2023 to 2027 and the operating agreement targets a cost not to exceed $1.6 million in 2023.

Along with the lease and operating agreement, the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting notes that staff with the county and Bert Nash will also outline the Treatment and Recovery Center of Douglas County’s 2023 budget. All three items have been key elements of the county’s and Bert Nash’s negotiations about the facility, which have been ongoing since December.

As the Journal-World reported, the county shared a timeline for opening the TRC late last month that listed April 10 as the date when the facility will begin partial operations via a front-of-house urgent care unit. And in the months to follow, the TRC would begin operating the other portion of its facility — an observation and stabilization unit intended for patients who need to stay for 23 to 72 hours — at partial capacity, with early October as the target for hitting full patient capacity.

That will all hinge on whether commissioners opt to approve the pending agreements between Bert Nash and the county this week, as well as whether county staff indicates there are any other outstanding items to take care of besides the lease, operating agreement and budget. If the TRC does open as planned, it will have been nearly 10 months since the county hosted a ribbon-cutting for the facility.

In other business, the commission will:

• During a work session, discuss the process of developing the Douglas County Extension Council’s 2023-2025 strategic plan.

Housed in Kansas State University’s Research and Extension office, the council provides guidance and technical assistance to Douglas County residents by aligning university resources with community needs.

Wednesday’s work session will begin at 4 p.m., followed by the business meeting at 5:30 p.m. at the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St. The meeting will also be available by Zoom. For meeting information, visit the county’s website: dgcoks.org/commissionmeetings.