Thousands of Iowans suffer every day from the hidden pain that is mental illness. Many suffer in silence; a few are driven to the extreme action of taking their own life.

All those who suffer from mental illness deserve the best care that modern medicine can provide. Sometimes, perhaps often, they can’t get that care through no fault of their own.

There is a bit of hopeful news in the state Capitol. State Rep. Ann Meyer, R-Fort Dodge, is working hard to provide some help to our fellow Iowans who are dealing with mental illnesses. She has introduced a few bills to do that. Two of those measures seek to address the state’s chronic shortage of trained mental health care providers. At least one of those bills will be coming up for a key committee vote this week.

That bill would expand the University of Iowa’s residency program for psychiatry. A residency is a four-year program that recent medical school graduates go through to learn a specialty. By adding to the existing residency program, this bill is intended to increase the number of psychiatrists in Iowa.

The bill would establish new psychiatric residencies at the Cherokee Mental Health Institute, Independence Mental Health Institute, Woodward Resource Center, Glenwood Resource Center, Iowa State Training School for Boys and the Department of Corrections’ Iowa Medical and Classification Center. When Meyer introduced the bill, it called for residencies at three sites. Three more sites were added by a House subcommittee. The measure was then approved unanimously by the full House Human Resources Committee. It now moves on to the House Appropriations Committee. We call on the members of that committee to approve this bill and send it to the House floor.

Another bill from Meyer also seeks to recruit and retain mental health professionals in the state by providing additional student loan relief to physicians, nurse practitioners, therapists and counselors who pledge to work five years in Iowa.

The last bill calls on the state Department of Human Services to establish a new Medicaid reimbursement rate for people needing a higher level of inpatient psychiatric care.

One of her bills would have increased the bed capacity at the Cherokee and Independence mental health institutes by 50 percent. That amounts to 32 more beds for adults and 14 more beds for children and adolescents. However, it was shelved in favor of a Senate bill that would add about 12 beds to each facility.

We urge the Legislature to pass all of Meyer’s remaining mental health bills and send them to Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Yes, these measures will cost the state some money. But they are potentially lifesaving initiatives that will be worth every cent. The state government has a healthy budget surplus now, and the millions that would be spent to implement the steps Meyer envisions in these bills would scarcely put a dent in it.

We thank Meyer for making a priority of providing better care to our friends, relatives and neighbors who struggle every day with mental illness.