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Preliminary construction work could begin on Junction City’s long-awaited state psychiatric hospital this summer, but a tight state budget may delay the Oregon Legislature from approving the necessary $29 million allocation during the short February session.

In late December, Rep. Dennis Richardson, R-Central Point, co-chair of Oregon’s joint Senate-House Ways & Means Committee, derided the plans for the Junction City hospital. Richardson argues that several small facilities spread throughout the state would better serve the psychiatric population and cost the state less money.

But supporters of the Junction City hospital, which has been scaled down from 360 to 174 beds based on population predictions, point out that the project needs to be complete in time for the closures of state hospitals in Portland and Pendleton.

The Oregon Health Authority is primarily concerned with having a facility able to support the population currently housed in the 96-bed Portland hospital, which will close its doors in March 2015. The closing date of the Pendleton hospital is not yet confirmed.

鈥淭here is always an active dialogue,鈥� said Linda Hammond, interim director of addictions and mental health for the Oregon Health Authority. 鈥淚n these difficult budgetary times, it’s appropriate that people should be asking questions to make sure the state is doing the right thing for the right reasons.鈥�