PHOENIX — A bond initiative on the ballot in November would expand emergency and behavioral health care for Maricopa County’s only public teaching hospital and safety net health care system.
Proposition 409 would authorize an $898 million bond for Valleywise Health, the county-run medical center providing comprehensive care to people around the Valley. The public health care system is looking to renovate and modernize existing centers to accommodate the county’s growing population of 4.6 million — the fourth largest country.
“We serve millions of visits per year,” said Dr. Michael White, Valleywise’s chief clinical officer. “We do not turn anyone away. Anyone who needs care will get care within our organization.”
If approved by Maricopa County voters, the proposition would increase property taxes by 11 cents per $100 of net assessed limited property value. That would translate to an extra $220 on a home assessed at $200,000.
White said some of the money would go toward constructing a new behavioral health hospital to replace the original 1978 facility, doubling the number of available beds for behavioral health patients. Additional money would go toward expanding emergency services, building a new outpatient specialty center, updating Chandler and South Central health centers and improving training for medical students.
“Using this bonding vehicle through the property tax makes sure that we are being fair and equitable to serve all the citizens across the county,” White said.
Valleywise is Arizona’s largest public teaching hospital, training over 3,000 residents in psychiatry, pediatrics, internal medicine and more. In addition to modernizing facilities, the bond initiative would expand medical education, which White called essential to strengthening the county’s new generation of health care workers.
For Earl Wilcox, former Arizona legislator and board member for Valleywise Health, the need for improvements runs deep. Now spending much of his days running his restaurant El Portal, just outside of downtown Phoenix, and spending time with the community, Wilcox sees an opportunity for Proposition 409 to benefit the people he’s seen struggling.
Wilcox recalled when an uninsured local resident who was suffering from a urinary issue and unsure where to go. He was admitted to Valleywise and immediately seen by a urologist, and by the end of the day, had been fixed up and sent on his way.
“We try not to be bureaucratic. They come in with a fever, with a broken arm, they’re going to have a baby – we take care of them,” Wilcox said. “We don’t ask questions.”
Born and raised in South Phoenix, he has seen many young people fall victim to a variety of mental health issues. He and his wife help maintain Grant Park. In turn, they have met young people from all walks of life dealing with issues of identity and addiction.
“We’ve had instances where some of our kids have committed suicide as a result of not having some of our systems reach out to them adequately,” he said.
In 2024, Mental Health America ranked Arizona 48th in access to mental health care. Arizona Department of Health Services’ “2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey” showed that 25% of teens in the state had thought about taking their own lives in the previous year. In Maricopa County, the suicide rate in 2023 was about 17.5 per 100,000 people compared to the national average of 14.9.
Alongside concerns of mental health are those of substance abuse. As of Sept. 4, Maricopa County recorded the state’s highest nonfatal opioid overdose rate – roughly 51 for every 100,000 people.
Will Humble, executive director of the Arizona Public Health Association, said these rates are exactly why his organization is backing Proposition 409. One of his main concerns is the capacity for court-ordered treatment.
“It’s not like a sinus infection, where you take the antibiotics and it clears up. Some of these psych meds take a long time to start working, and so we need a lot more capacity for court-ordered treatment,” Humble said.
Like Wilcox, he noted Valleywise’s importance to the county’s underserved and underinsured populations.
Maricopa County Department of Public Health’s Opioid and Substance Abuse Needs Assessment in 2023 highlighted the need for expanded, inclusive care dedicated to those who lack access. Supporters of Proposition 409 say it gives voters the opportunity to see their vision through.
“We’re unique in a sense,” Wilcox said, “People that have whatever reasons to not feel comfortable going to the major hospital, they come to us. We see them with dignity and compassion.”
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