To the dismay of some residents, an office building close to downtown Willow Glen and Lincoln Avenue is slated to become an inpatient mental health facility.
The San Jose Planning Commission has unanimously approved a conditional use permit that will allow LGTC Group, formerly known as Los Gatos Therapy Center, to run a 24-hour facility at 913 Willow St., serving up to 48 patients at one time with what the medical group calls “mild pathologies,” such as eating disorders, depression and anxiety.
“We really can’t talk about mental health advocacy if we don’t provide a place for people to achieve those services,” said Commissioner Pierluigi Oliverio, who also resides in Willow Glen. “I mean table stakes and I can say many people in this neighborhood have sought these services and received these services. It might not have been obviously here, because it doesn’t exist, but they’ve been receiving them somewhere.”
The new inpatient facility will combine the existing 7,369-square-foot office building and a 2,548-square foot garage on two parcels near the intersection of Willow Street and Chabrant Way.
LGTC Group Executive Director Eugene Tilman stated the facility will not be used for short- or long-term residence and is not a walk-in, self-referred facility. Instead, patients will be only transported from other locations and discharged to other facilities.
“We do have outpatient offices within two miles, right there on Bascom Avenue to where we will shuttle the patients to and from,” Tilman said. “Only people that meet strict medical criteria for admission would be admitted into the facility and discharged.”
LGTC operates several clinics and residential facilities in the South Bay, including in Campbell, Sunnyvale, the Cambrian neighborhood in San Jose and an eating disorder facility for teens in Willow Glen.
Because of its location and its status as a locked facility, Tilman said the property would have a security system to monitor the perimeter.
Tilman also noted that while the facility will hold 48 beds, it would likely not surpass 65-70% occupancy at any one time.
