Mental health facility opening in place of shuttered Roy’s homeless shelter

A new mental health facility is opening in Palm Springs in the same location as the former Roy’s Desert Resource Center, a now-shuttered homeless center.

Riverside County is in the process of transitioning the facility into Roy’s Desert Springs, a 92-bed adult residential care center for mental health patients who need care and supervision for their basic daily activities.

According to behavioral health services administrator Marcus Cannon, “In our county we have a shortage of both acute care hospital beds for psychiatric needs as well as a shortage of facilities like this … so we end up with people having longer lengths of stay in our hospitals.”

The facility will add nearly 100 beds for adults in need of specialty mental health treatment, more-than doubling the valley’s current capacity. It’s to serve those undergoing treatment and therapy as they transition to independent living.

“It helps (patients) have the most freedom, have the most contact with their loved ones,” Cannon said. “They would have their various appointments groups as well as lots of free time for people to pursue whatever it is that they enjoy doing — art groups, vocational groups, field trips, things like that.”

The building was previously used as Roy’s Desert Resource Center, a homeless shelter that closed during the summer of 2017 due to funding and location issues.

The $27-million project will soon help people with mental illness return to daily life.

“It helps people get into the least restrictive level of care possible that’s really appropriate for them … and helps them to start to practice all those daily living skills to reintegrate back into the community,” Cannon said.

Health officials are eyeing a completion date in the fall of next year.

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