Later today the Springfield City Council will vote on annexing 18 acres on International Way for Lane County’s crisis stabilization center and PeaceHealth’s Timber Springs Behavioral Health Hospital. While much of the public discussion has focused on land‑use questions, the economic impact of the campus is substantial.
Job creation and payroll impact
Business Oregon economist Damon Runberg estimates that the stabilization center, once fully staffed, will employ 93 people with an annual payroll of about $10.5 million. Including the indirect jobs created when the center purchases goods and staff spend their earnings locally, the project supports roughly 280 jobs. The center adds more than $49 million a year to Lane County’s economy and generates about $8.6 million in local, state and federal tax revenue.
Construction of the $35 million facility will provide a one‑time boost, supporting up to 170 construction jobs at peak and creating roughly $25 million in economic activity over three years.
Beyond the stabilization center
The figures above cover only the county’s stabilization center. The larger Timber Springs facility will increase those numbers considerably. Lane County estimates the full campus will generate about $2 million a year in property taxes, which will be shared among the City of Springfield, Springfield Public Schools, Willamalane Park and Recreation District, Lane County, Lane Community College and the Lane Education Service District. Springfield’s new payroll tax will also apply to these jobs.
The campus will employ a range of professionals – psychiatrists, nurses, counselors, peer‑support specialists, technicians and support staff – many of whom do not need a four‑year degree. This mix of positions offers good wages and career pathways for local residents.
Training opportunities for the next generation
Through Collaborative Economic Development Oregon, a nonprofit that brings together hospitals and clinics, the author notes a critical shortage of training slots for nursing and behavioral‑health students. A campus dedicated to crisis and inpatient psychiatric care would provide much‑needed clinical placements, helping to train the workforce that will staff the facility.
Cost of inaction
Without a dedicated facility, individuals in mental‑health or addiction crises often end up in emergency rooms or jails – both costly and ill‑suited to provide proper care. These placements also tie up emergency‑room beds that could serve other patients.
Timber Springs will add inpatient psychiatric beds for adolescents, a service Lane County currently lacks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that adverse childhood experiences can impair education, job prospects and earnings later in life. Providing timely, local care for young people is a foundational workforce‑development strategy.
Funding and timeline
The county has assembled roughly $35 million for the stabilization center, including $14 million in state lottery bonds earmarked for this site. PeaceHealth has indicated that annexation must be completed by Dec. 1 to keep Timber Springs on budget and on schedule. Funding of this magnitude does not wait.
What’s at stake for Springfield
The council’s decision will shape the city’s economic future. Approving the annexation would bring hundreds of well‑paid jobs, tens of millions of dollars in annual economic activity, and critical health services for residents. As someone who works to attract employers to empty lots, the author urges council members to count these benefits alongside traditional land‑use considerations.
Springfield’s leaders have a difficult job balancing growth, community concerns and fiscal responsibility. The proposed behavioral‑health campus offers a rare opportunity to address a pressing public‑health need while bolstering the local economy and expanding training opportunities for the next generation of health‑care workers.
Original reporting: Homepage – Lookout Eugene-Springfield — read the source article.
