DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A health care provider wants to build a $31 million psychiatric hospital in the Des Moines area to respond to a shortage of mental health services.
Mercy Medical Center’s new hospital would have 100 beds, The Des Moines Register reported . Mercy currently has 34 psychiatric beds in its downtown facility.
“We’re obviously trying to respond to the community’s needs,” said Laura Vanden Bosch, a spokeswoman for Mercy.
The facility would be in Polk County, but the specific location hasn’t been determined, she said.
Mercy officials hope to have their project proposal before the state Health Facilities Council by July, Vanden Bosch said. The council decides whether health care projects are needed or if they would inflate costs and duplicate available services.
The proposal comes amid concerns about a lack of mental health resources. At least eight other Iowa hospitals have recently closed inpatient psychiatric units, including state hospitals in Mount Pleasant and Clarinda.
Gov. Kim Reynolds recently signed a mental health bill hoping to address the shortage. The bill calls for additional services for those who need care but don’t require full hospitalization.
One major problem the mental health care system faces is that inpatient psychiatric spots are often filled longer than necessary because some people cleared to move to less restrictive programs have nowhere to go, said Theresa Bomhoff, president of the Greater Des Moines chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
A lack of qualified staff has also slowed the addition of new mental health services in the state. Mercy shuttered an outpatient mental health clinic in 2014 because it was unable to hire enough psychiatrists.
Mercy will start a residency program this summer to train new psychiatrists and address the shortage.
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Information from: The Des Moines Register, http://www.desmoinesregister.com
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