MENTAL HEALTH 'The need is great' 77,000-square-foot in-patient facility has 120 beds and five units

DARTMOUTH — One building cannot solve the entire need for mental health services in the community.

But Southcoast Behavioral, a newly opened inpatient behavioral health hospital on Faunce Corner Road, serves as a “great first step,’’ said William A. Parsons Jr., chief executive officer of the facility.

The 77,000-square-foot hospital opened Aug. 31 but is awaiting accreditation from The Joint Commission before hosting an official grand opening, likely in early November, he said. The facility is a joint effort of Southcoast Health and Acadia Healthcare of Franklin, Tenn.

But weeks before the ribbon is cut, patients have already been hospitalized at the facility, which has 120 beds and five units, Parsons said. “The need is great,’’ he said. “We’ve been inundated with referrals.’’

The building features state-of-the-art security. Key cards are required to access the building entrance and each set of doors within the building. Rooms have a number of features to prevent patients from harming themselves or others.

Smooth ceilings have no attachments that could hold a ligature. Paper trash containers substitute for plastic bags, which can be used to asphyxiate someone. Beds are bolted to the floor and artwork to the wall so they cannot be used as weapons.

Many patients are suicidal or homicidal when admitted, Parsons said. Some will be transported from emergency rooms, which he said will reduce the wait that mentally ill patients sometimes experience. Not long ago, he said, an adolescent waited nearly two weeks in the St. Luke's Hospital emergency department before a placement was found for him at a facility in New Hampshire.

The Rogers Ward at St. Luke’s Hospital can accommodate patients with mental illnesses but there are only 30 beds, which means the ward fills quickly and frequently, Parsons said. “This gives emergency departments a lot more options,’’ he said.

The new hospital’s focus is to “stabilize’’ the patient’s moods and behavior, Parsons said. From there, social workers will attempt to find the appropriate follow-up treatment.

Starting in the middle of next year, the hospital will provide some of these follow-up treatments. These include daily outpatient care, with clients spending days at the hospitals for continuing inpatient treatment and then later attending three-hour sessions three nights a week.

The hospital's indoor gym will eventually host public events, such as possible talks on depression and other behavioral health topics. "We invite the community to come into the conversation about mental illness,'' he said. "This is not a secret place. It belongs to the community. It's a resource to the community.''

—Follow Sandy Quadros Bowles on Twitter @SandyBowlesSCT.