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Utah's largest psychiatric hospital is expanding, a reflection of the growing need for mental health care and increased awareness that such help is available.
On Tuesday, the University Neuropsychiatric Institute, known as UNI, held a ribbon cutting to mark the first phase of a plan that will nearly double the number of beds in the next five years.
"It was really meant to create a safe and beautiful environment, one meant to honor, respect and inspire our patients and their families," UNI Executive Director Ross Van Vranken told a packed audience.
The building, in Research Park adjacent to the University of Utah, includes lots of natural light, views of the mountains, and a warm yellow and green palette. A meditation room includes a painting that invokes Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night." Most rooms will be private with full-sized beds instead of twins.
And the safety features don't feel prison-like. Doors and shower fixtures were built so nothing can be hung from them to prevent patients from hurting themselves. Chairs were chosen so they can't conceal contraband. Doors are designed to prevent patients from barricading themselves.
About 15 new rooms will open in the next two weeks, adding to the existing 90. Eventually, a total of 80 beds will be added.
Speakers at the ribbon cutting said the additional rooms are necessary. National estimates show 20 percent of children have a mental disorder that impairs their lives. UNI expanded the number of beds available to children and teens and created a separate unit for children with autism.
On most days, UNI has to put 20 people on a waiting list. During the busiest times, it jumps to 50. About 3,000 patients are admitted each year and stay a little more than a week on average.
Adding so many new beds represents "immense hope" to one famous and former patient, Heather Armstrong, creator and author of dooce.com.
She spent four days at UNI in 2004 because of severe post-partum depression. Only one room was available when Armstrong arrived at UNI. She traces her subsequent successes, including the popularity of her website and being named one of the most influential women in media, to that stay and the medications she takes.
"Had that bed not been available, I would not be here today," said Armstrong, who wants to reduce the stigma around mental illness. "Many of my readers want to know that they are not alone, that they are not freaks."
The U.'s psychiatry department is moving to the new space, along with an MRI machine for research on the biology of mental disorders.
The $54-million expansion, paid for with revenue from patients and donors, comes at a time when UNI faces new competition. It once was the sole provider of inpatient psychiatric care for Salt Lake County Medicaid patients. Now, Pioneer Valley Hospital in West Valley City and Salt Lake Behavioral Health, a psychiatric hospital in Salt Lake City, also provide that service.
Together, UNI and the psychiatry department's $80-million budget lost $4 million to those changes, Van Vranken said.
But UNI recently won a contract to run a 24-hour crisis line and it will eventually create a mobile crisis response unit for the county.