Governor Nixon In Hannibal for Mental Health Roundtable [Audio]

A roundtable discussion Tuesday morning in Hannibal updates Missouri Governor Jay Nixon on mental health issues in the area.

Governor Nixon heard from  northeast Missouri law enforcement and mental health professionals. Lack of bed space in northeast Missouri is a concern in implementing a strategic initiative to help communities identify and care for Missourians with severe mental illness. Upgrades at the Fulton State Hospital will help, but that project isn't complete.

The initiative also includes expansion of crisis intervention and mental health first aid training and resources for emergency room intervention teams to work with patients needing coordinated care.

Nixon says renovations underway at the Fulton State Hospital will help: "We hope to have that opened in early 2017...to add additional capacity there and to kind of make that a center place so that you'd have a place in the middle of the state where we can use as a place to triage folks, it's all part of this plan."