Mental health facility expands San Jose services

An upcoming mental health inpatient facility is set to treat dozens of teens and adults in San Jose’s Willow Glen neighborhood, though nearby residents are raising concerns.

The San Jose Planning Commission unanimously approved plans March 26 for the conversion of an existing office building at 913 Willow St. to a 48-bed mental health inpatient facility with 10 to 15 staff on site 24 hours to treat patients struggling with conditions like depression, anxiety and eating disorders. The project does not need the approval of the City Council. While planning commissioners supported the project, some neighbors raised safety concerns about how the facility will manage security.

Nearby resident Bryan Maldonado told planning commissioners parking and public safety will be negatively affected.

“The developer stated this is for patients with mild pathologies,” he said at the meeting. “However, I’ve worked in health care for 20 years. Inpatient services are not for mild pathologies — those are for very severe pathologies. I’ve lived on the street since 2011 and the street is filled with children. We’re very concerned about the types of patients coming in and how they are going to manage that security wise.”

Eugene Tillman, executive director of the LGTC Group, said patients will only be able to come and go through a shuttle service, and they have security systems in place to monitor the facility.

“There’s plenty of parking and other amenities available for the employees of the organization, which we intend to have a one to three patient ratio,” he said. “These facilities are owned by our group, so there will be no disturbance or negative effect on the neighborhood.”

LGTC Group, formerly known as the Los Gatos Therapy Center with headquarters in San Jose, operates clinics in San Jose, Sunnyvale and Campbell. The Willow Glen residential facility will be the fifth location in the South Bay. The 24-hour residential facility will be closed to the public and provide psychiatric and medical monitoring and psychotherapeutic interventions.

Planning Commissioner Justin Lardinois said at the meeting if they allowed residents to block such facilities from their neighborhoods, there would be little to no sites for mental health treatment.

“I totally understand where you’re coming from, why you might feel alarmed and why facilities like this might sound scary,” he said. “(There’s) multiple instances of facilities like this that exist in neighborhoods, that really, I think a lot of folks just don’t realize are there because they are quiet and closed off.”

Months before LGTC applied for the Willow Glen location, the company applied for a similar office-to-facility conversion project at 738 N. First St. City planning officials approved the project in 2023 with the same number of beds. That site is still in development and will be its sixth site once online.

That same year, Good Samaritan Hospital decreased Santa Clara County’s inpatient mental health acute care beds by 8% when closing its 18-bed location at Mission Oaks Hospital.

Mental health care and treatment has become a contentious point between city officials and county leaders in their collective efforts to reduce homelessness.

County officials said last year they want to double their mental health and substance use treatment beds to 530 beds by 2030. The increase in treatment beds could double the number of people receiving substance use treatment to 20,000 by 2030, according to the county.

Mayor Matt Mahan told San José Spotlight earlier this month increasing behavioral and mental health treatment options for homeless residents will encourage more individuals to accept shelter.

“There’s no intention of criminalization,” he said. “But we have to get this person into the care of the county and make sure the county knows who they are and that they have a responsibility for getting that person indoors one way or another.”

Planning Commission Chair Anthony Tordillos, who is running for the District 3 council seat, said at the meeting he voted in favor of both LGTC developments and he’s happy to see the group invest in San Jose.

“Facilities like this really do provide life-saving care, so I’m glad this facility is going forward,” he said.