State Senate President Don Gaetz sought unsuccessfully last year to obtain money for local crisis care. But this year, he got it.
Following the Bridgeway Center crisis stabilization unit's March 2013 closing, Fort Walton Beach Medical Center became the only Okaloosa County facility processing Baker Act patients, according to Medical Center spokesman Josh Snellgrove.
At that time, the hospital spent $500,000 on security upgrades, which included adding security cameras and reinforcing receiving areas, Snellgrove said.
Securing holding and treatment facilities for mentally ill Baker Act patients has been a priority for Gaetz since 2008, when a deeply disturbed Mark Rohlman escaped the hospital’s custody and killed deputy Anthony Forgione before taking his own life.
Crisis care was also funded in the state budget in the form of $350,000 in construction and start up funding to get a Children’s Advocacy Center facility built in Walton County.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crisis care survives state budget cuts