New Western Mental Health Institute Opens
Monday, March 15, 2010 | 04:51am
NASHVILLE – Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Commissioner (TDMHDD) Virginia Trotter Betts hosted the grand opening of the new Western Mental Health Institute today.
The new facility includes a state-of-the-art “treatment mall” where patients will spend the majority of the day in a classroom atmosphere receiving services including counseling, medication management, case management, and other psychiatric inpatient services. The facility will also house a telemedicine pilot program in collaboration with Carey Counseling Center in Union City, Tenn., in an effort to reduce unnecessary transportation to the institute for mental health assessments.
“We are extremely excited about this new facility that will improve acute mental health services, as well as overall health care in Bolivar and throughout West Tennessee,” stated TDMHDD Commissioner Virginia Trotter Betts. “This facility embodies our department’s mission to provide quality care in the least restrictive environment. Access to telemedicine services for mental health assessments will drastically cut down on transportation costs for communities in northwest Tennessee.”
Patients will move into the new 162-bed facility, located at 11100 Old Highway 64 in Bolivar, Tenn., by the end of March. The construction team broke ground in June of 2008 and completed construction under budget and ahead of schedule. The facility has received certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) through the Green Building Rating System developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED certification is designed to promote design and construction practices that increase efficiency while reducing the negative environmental impacts of buildings and improving occupant health and well-being.
WMHI first opened in 1889 to serve the mentally ill in rural West Tennessee.
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