GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – With shovels in hand and dirt piled up, healthcare and community leaders are celebrating breaking ground on a new behavioral health hospital in Greenville.

“This is the next step in our evolution to provide care for Eastern North Carolina,” said ECU Health’s CEO Mike Waldrum.

Mental health concerns are on the rise, and this care is needed now more than ever following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Behavioral health is essential to health because people felt and personally saw their family members a portion of loneliness, fear, and anxiety and recognize how much that impacted them, but the behavioral health needs in our community have been increasing for a long time,” said Kody Kinsley, the Secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services.

With 144 inpatient beds, 24 will be specifically slated for children. The behavioral health hospital will be the first for ECU Health to house children and adolescent beds for this type of care. These pediatric behavioral health beds are the only ones within 75 miles of Greenville.

“Not only is mental health prevalent and reached across all populations, but it’s been particularly pronounced with children, and the isolation during COVID has really driven that,” said Acadia Healthcare’s CEO, Chris Hunter.

The new hospital is expected to open in the Spring of 2025. Hospital leaders say it will meet the need for more behavioral healthcare in the region.

“This compilation of services just allows us to build on our mission to improve the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina, so it’s just one of the many things that is in play,” said Waldrum.

Waldrum also said the healthcare system is already planning another facility on this same campus for outpatient non-acute behavioral healthcare.

The new hospital costs over $65 million, and while Acadia Healthcare owns the majority, the hospital’s board will be split with equal members from both ECU Health and Acadia Healthcare.

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