Springfield weighs annexation for PeaceHealth behavioral health hospital

Springfield leaders spent more than two hours Monday weighing whether to annex about 18 acres in North Gateway, a move that could clear the way for PeaceHealth’s proposed Timber Springs Behavioral Health Hospital. The decision carries a direct local tradeoff: a new 96-bed hospital could expand emergency mental health capacity in the Eugene-Springfield area, but nearby landowners and opponents see another major health-care footprint landing on the city’s edge.

The council heard from roughly 20 people on both sides before sending the issue back for another look at its June 1 meeting. If annexation eventually passes, PeaceHealth says the hospital would cost about $35 million and would be built alongside Lane County’s planned Lane Stabilization Center on International Way, creating a broader behavioral health campus in North Gateway.

Supporters argued the project is overdue in a region where behavioral health options remain limited. Lane County District Attorney Chris Parosa said faster treatment can help break the cycle that sends people through emergency rooms, jails and repeated crises, and that the community needs more early intervention. That case for the project centered on capacity, speed and whether Lane County has enough local beds for people in crisis before their situations worsen.

Opponents focused less on the need for treatment than on where and how the hospital would be built. They pointed to a lawsuit already filed by Ardel Wicks, the chief financial officer of Richardson Sports, and attorney Michael Gelardi, who are challenging both the construction plan and the legality of House Bill 2005, the fast-track law that can speed behavioral health development. Their challenge has turned the annexation debate into part land-use dispute, part court fight, with the hospital’s future now tied to both local zoning and state law.

For Springfield, the choice now sits at the intersection of public health and growth management. A 96-bed facility could serve patients from across Lane County, including Eugene, Cottage Grove and Florence, but it would also place a large institutional use in a part of town already feeling pressure from new development. The council’s next vote will help determine whether North Gateway becomes the site of a regional behavioral health hub or another disputed piece of empty land on Springfield’s northern edge.