Mat-Su Regional greenlighted to add 36 inpatient beds

PALMER – Mat-Su Regional Medical Center’s Certificate of Need (CON) application to add 36 inpatient beds for adult psychiatric and substance abuse treatment was approved by the State of Alaska on Monday.

Valerie Davidson, Department of Health and Social Services Commissioner for the State – which administers the CON program – notified the hospital that its application was approved, in full, without any conditions, according to a press release.

“I’m extremely excited to share this good news with our entire community,” said Dave Wallace, chief executive officer of Mat-Su Regional. “Christmas came a little early this year.”

The hospital applied for the CON in late June and was expecting a decision from the State in mid-December.

“We now begin the design development phase of the project, which consists of defining and describing all the important aspects of the space, its form and function, fine-tuning its features and furnishings and what the finished product will look like,” Wallace said. The design development phase will likely take four-to six months, he noted.

The 36 inpatient beds will provide adult psychiatric and substance abuse treatment for both voluntary admissions and involuntary commitments under Title 47 of the Alaska Statutes. Currently, the Mat-Su Borough does not have any inpatient treatment services. The project will be new construction on Mat-Su Regional’s main campus in Palmer.

“This initiative was not hospital-driven. It was a grassroots effort based on the critical need our community is facing,” Wallace said. “Advocates from across the entire socio-economic spectrum came together in support of this project.”

The behavioral health project will be an additional structure geographically positioned near the emergency department. Its footprint will be approximately 28,000 square feet with an estimated cost of $19.3 million. The completion date is projected for the fourth quarter of 2020.

Wallace said many people have assumed the inpatient behavioral health beds will be added to Mat-Su Regional’s already shelled third floor. That is not the case.

“The third floor expansion is a separate project that will commence in early 2018, and will add approximately 52 beds for general medical-surgical care,” Wallace said. Once the third floor expansion gets underway, it will take approximately nine months to complete.

Both projects are part of an overall campus expansion with a price tag of nearly $90 million that includes the second medical office building (MOB II) which broke ground in late August and will add 40,000 square feet of medical office space to Mat-Su Regional’s campus. Other areas of the hospital will also be refined and upgraded as part of the expansion.

“We are entering a season of phenomenal growth and it’s an exciting time to be a member of the Mat-Su Regional team,” said Wallace. “The behavioral health project will truly be a blessing and a lifeline to so many of our friends and neighbors who are suffering from the devastation and fallout of not having adequate care available for behavioral health.”