The State of Tennessee Health Services and Development Agency (HSDA) recently approved Saint Thomas Health's Certificate of Need application to develop a freestanding 76 bed behavioral health hospital at Metro Center through a joint venture partnership with Acadia Healthcare. Additionally, the HSDA approved the relocation of an ambulatory surgery center in Hendersonville that is a joint venture between Saint Thomas Health and United Surgical Partners.

The behavioral health hospital will include 40 adult psychiatric beds and 36 geriatric psychiatric beds. Saint Thomas Health will contribute the existing 24 geriatric psychiatric beds at Saint Thomas West Hospital. The adult psychiatry program will comprise two treatment units with a combined 40 beds providing inpatient mental health and substance abuse services for adults age 18 to 64. The geriatric psychiatry program will comprise two treatment units with a combined 36 beds providing inpatient mental health and substance abuse services for adult patients age 65 and over.

"The hospital will meet a community need by filling a care gap and will help to address the comprehensive healthcare needs of the Middle Tennessee community in a coordinated and efficient manner," said Tim Adams, president and CEO of Saint Thomas Health. "Our Mission is to care for all individuals, especially the most vulnerable, and this population of patients is significantly underserved, making individuals who suffer from mental illness one of the most vulnerable in our local communities."

As part of the partnership, Saint Thomas Health and Acadia Healthcare intend to develop outpatient behavioral health sites of care as well as integrate behavioral health into its primary care practices and other care locations.

According to the Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, one in five adults, or more than forty million Americans, will suffer from a behavioral health disorder each year. There are currently 19,900 behavioral health inpatient discharges annually in the Middle Tennessee service area, and analytics suggest inpatient psychiatric care will grow an additional 20% over the next 10 years.

"The demand for behavioral healthcare across the country and in Middle Tennessee is extraordinary today, and projections for the future indicate demand will only increase," said Dr. Jeffrey Woods, division president of Acadia Healthcare. "The joint venture partnership with Saint Thomas Health will fill a care gap for behavioral health patients by providing adequate access to care for the Nashville community and beyond."

Acadia Healthcare is an international, industry-leading expert as a behavioral health provider with almost 600 behavioral health facilities in the US, UK and Puerto Rico, headquartered in Franklin, TN.

The hospital is projected to be complete in early 2020

The HSDA also approved the relocation of an existing multi-specialty ambulatory surgery center from 647 Myatt Drive in Madison to a new facility on Saundersville Road in Hendersonville. The new facility will include three operating rooms and one procedure room and will be located in the Indian Lake Village re-subdivision, with an estimated project cost of $17.1 million.