SAINT CLOUD, Minn. - A new mental health facility here in Minnesota is important on a number of fronts.
Not only is it helping to fill a shortage of mental health care in our state, it is specifically aimed at veterans. Its goal is to deliver the modern care needed for today's vets when the vets need it.
Scheduled to open the week of April 1st, 2015, the Saint Cloud VA Medical Center's new acute inpatient psychiatry unit will help veterans in crisis with depression, PTSD, substance abuse and more.
Nurse Manager Colette Bresnahan said, "There's many mental health conditions that we help people work through and help them gain wellness and stability when they come in."
"The hospital was formed 90 years ago as an inpatient psychiatric infirmary so we have a long tradition of delivering mental health services to veterans," said Public Affairs Officer Barry Venable.
During a tour of the new building on Monday, Bresnahan pointed out its warm and modern common spaces along with its state-of-the-art safety features for each room like, "The ability to control the internal climate - for example the electricity lights on and off - from outside the room, if that's needed, for both the patient's comfort and for safety reasons."
Blinds on the windows also offer privacy for the vets as do private bathrooms in every room.
Said Bresnahan of the bathrooms, "They look very sparse, but they really are state-of-the-art for safety."
With this new $8.75 million facility, the Saint Cloud VA is going from 15 acute mental health beds to 20. Plus there's room to grow. "There are plans for a second story down the road," said Bresnahan.
The St. Cloud VA saw 320 veterans in this unit, in its former location, last year. Venable said, "And we see a little over 10,000 veterans each year for mental health services. That number has doubled since 2006 so demand is increasing."
It is an upgrade fueled by a need and greater focus on health care systems nationwide on the importance of mental health.
