Chesapeake Regional Healthcare cut the ribbon Thursday on a new inpatient behavioral health unit aimed at expanding access to mental health care in Chesapeake and across South Hampton Roads.
The unit at Chesapeake Regional Medical Center includes 20 private rooms for adult patients, along two activity rooms, a quiet room, a group therapy room and a sensory room to support recovery.
It follows the launch of Chesapeake Regional’s psychiatric emergency department unit last year and is part of a broader effort to expand behavioral health services in the region.
The new nursing station is seen inside Chesapeake Regional’s psychiatric emergency department.
The Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services helped fund the project. VDBHDS commissioner Nelson Smith said at the ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday the investment reflects long-standing needs across mental health, substance use treatment and crisis care.
“It wasn’t reactionary. It was needed,” Smith said. “Right Help, Right Now came and hit every hydraulic of the system, developmental disabilities, substance abuse, mental health care, 988, crisis hotline. Virginians needed an outlet. That’s what this is for this community.”
“Right Help, Right Now” is outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s behavioral health initiative, which aims to improve crisis response and care access across the state.
Reese Jackson, the president and CEO of Chesapeake Regional Healthcare, said the new unit will allow patients, including veterans, to receive treatment closer to home, helping them stay connected to family and local support systems instead of traveling elsewhere in Virginia.
“We are all familiar with veterans having issues that are behavioral health-related, and I think that was a motivating factor,” Jackson said. “What we always wanted for this program was not for this to be the Chesapeake regional program. What we always wanted was for this to be our community program.”
The behavioral health expansion is supported by a combination of federal, state and local funding totaling about $10 million, according to Jackson.
Nancy Welsch, health director at Chesapeake Health Department, said the new inpatient unit will fill a critical gap in mental health prevention services.
“This is really needed, especially post the COVID pandemic,” Welsch said. “Prevention is keeping people in their best health, mentally and physically. You can have the best physical health in the world, but if you don’t have strong, supportive mental health, you’re not going to achieve your best relationships or your best engagement.”
She said the facility also gives health workers a place to refer residents who need inpatient care — an option that had previously been limited in Chesapeake.
Once fully staffed, the unit will include five psychiatrists — a mix of full- and part-time physicians — and three nurse practitioners.
Jackson said planning is also underway for an outpatient behavioral health facility, which would integrate primary care and mental health services, as part of a broader behavioral health expansion backed by the $10 million funding.