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The public can see the unit from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital
YOUNGSTOWN
A public open house for the new Mercy Health Behavioral Health Institute, housed in St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital’s former labor-and-delivery unit, is from 4:30 to 6 p.m. today, and patients will be accepted shortly thereafter.
The nearly $5-million, 38-bed, 38,000-square-foot facility, of which construction began in March, will more than double the number of inpatient beds at St. Elizabeth Youngstown and in Mahoning County, said Donald Koenig, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Mercy Health Youngstown, during a hard-hat tour of the facility in October when it opened shortly after that, officials said.
Koenig said the behavioral-health institute was developed to meet the growing demand for all levels of behavioral-health services in the Mahoning Valley.
The project increases the number of acute-care inpatient beds from 16 to 24 and established a 14-bed geriatric psychiatric-inpatient unit.
Mercy Health officials said the new facility will help address a shortage of such adult behavioral-health beds in the county.
Staff will serve as tour guides at the hospital at 1044 Belmont Ave. and point out and talk about the BHI’s safety features such as rounded corners and restrooms and windows designed for patient safety.
Because they will be limited-access units once in use, the open house is a rare opportunity to see them, said Karen Hogan, BHI nursing director.
The staff, members of which include registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, bachelor’s degree prepared behavioral-health technicians, social workers, a clinical psychologist, psychiatrists and security personnel, has received special training in nonviolent crisis intervention should patients become agitated, Hogan said.
She said patients and their families will be involved in finding strength-based solutions and tailoring treatment to what produces a positive response.
Hogan said treatments have improved as more is learned about how the brain works and the development of so-called second-generation anti-psychotics that are more effective but have fewer negative side effects.