Sen. Massey seeks $12M to expand mental-health beds across 24-county East Tennessee region

Chairman Massey asked the committee for a $12,000,000 nonrecurring appropriation to the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to expand inpatient mental-health treatment capacity across a 24-county region of East Tennessee.

Massey said the region currently is “88 beds short in East Tennessee now” and warned it would be “150 plus beds short by 2,050,” characterizing the request as a short-term renovation to add 25 beds. He described the funds as one-time money for renovations expected to take about a year and stressed the request does not include recurring operating dollars.

The amendment would fund renovations rather than new construction, Massey said, and was framed as a stopgap measure while officials pursue longer-term facility solutions. No fiscal detail beyond the $12,000,000 nonrecurring figure was included in the presentation.

Committee members did not ask substantive questions during the presentation; the chair moved on to the next amendment after Massey finished. Because the proposal requests one-time capital funding but would increase bed capacity, further detail from the Department of Mental Health on operating plans, staffing and recurring costs will be needed before the panel or the full legislature votes on funding.

The briefing concluded without a committee vote; Massey’s amendment remains a request and would require follow-up fiscal analysis and executive-branch implementation plans before any funding is appropriated.