TROTWOOD — The community had lots of questions Friday night about the state’s plans to build a behavioral health hospital in Montgomery County.
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News Center 7’s Malik Patterson attended a meeting in Trotwood where a group of mental health professionals gathered to provide some answers.
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The state is planning to build the facility on the site of the old Hara Arena, which straddles Trotwood and Harrison Township.
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Dianne Smith-Foster was one of the first community members to speak out.
“If you’re hearing that Trotwood is opposed to this facility and that people are afraid about mental health, that’s absolutely not true,” she said.
Smith-Foster said her only concern was the hospital’s location, but she understood how it could help patients.
“They should have a facility where their families can be closer to access them again,” she said.
One of the panelists was Mario Broussard, a clinical social worker.
“Our communities are more vulnerable when we don’t have resources. And so we have individuals now who don’t have a place to go,” Broussard said.
Pastor Norman Scearce with Church Gateway Cathedral hosted the meeting.
He believes the hospital is just the start of more growth in Trotwood.
“Alone, that doesn’t speak to the development that will surround that hospital now, because it serves as an anchor. I think it is just the shot in the arm, if you will, that this region and even our city needs right here in the city of Trotwood,” Scearce said.
The state claims this new facility will create over 500 new jobs and should be built by 2030.
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