Officials unveil Bronson Behavioral Health Hospital in Battle Creek

BATTLE CREEK — A new hospital in Battle Creek will help meet the growing demand for behavioral health services in Southwest Michigan and address the current shortage of behavioral health beds.

Officials formally unveiled Bronson Behavioral Health Hospital Thursday with a ribbon cutting ceremony and self-guided tours. The 96-bed inpatient behavioral health hospital at Glenn Cross Road and M-66 is a joint venture between Bronson Healthcare and Acadia Healthcare.

The $35 million facility will welcome its first patients on July 18.

"As many of you know, there is a paucity of in-patient behavioral health beds in the state of Michigan," Bronson Healthcare President and CEO Bill Manns said. "I’m thrilled that both Acadia and Bronson are coming together to be part of that solution. This will change everything for us."

The hospital will serve adult patients and offer a range of inpatient health care services, including treatment for those who struggle with acute symptoms of mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and post traumatic stress disorder.

"Our duty, our sacred trust is to care for the whole person — mind, body and spirit — and I believe that we have the foundation for that to occur here," Dr. Jeffrey Woods, group president at Acadia Healthcare, said. "I know the good work that is done here will lay a foundation for generations to come in improving the population health and the lives of the community."

Acadia Healthcare operates a network of 250 behavioral health care facilities in 39 states and Puerto Rico, and is the largest stand-alone behavioral health care company in the U.S.

Bronson Battle Creek Hospital will transition inpatient behavioral health services and staff from its Fieldstone Center, at 165 N. Washington St., to the new facility.

"Unfortunately, the Fieldstone Center was an older facility that couldn’t be further developed," Manns explained. "However, by opening this 96-bed facility, we can continue to provide jobs in this community, we can provide care that heretofore has not been available in this community and career growth for those employees who are part of Bronson that were at Fieldstone coming over (here). … There are so many amazing things that are a result of this wonderful building."

The new hospital includes ample space for patients outside of their rooms, including a multitude of lounges and activity spaces, an outdoor recreation area and a gymnasium.

"In this facility, patients will be focused on being out of their rooms, being in groups, working with a therapist, working with the other teams to make sure that they are really working on the things that they need to in order to then move on to an outpatient level of care," Deb Rozewicz, CEO of Bronson Behavioral Health Hospital, explained. "Socialization is a part of that. We don't want patients to feel isolated in their rooms. We want them to be participating in the therapies that are really going to benefit them."

The facility comes at a time when Michigan's behavioral health system is stretched to its limits.

"We have several outstanding facilities throughout Michigan dedicated to mental health care services and acute care hospitals with special units for that, but the number of available beds with the right type of care is simply not adequate to serve our 10 million people," said Laura Appel, executive vice president of government relations and public policy at the Michigan Health and Hospital Association.

More than 4 million Michiganders live in an area with unmet behavioral health needs, according to Appel, and by this measure "we are the worst in the Midwest."

"I want to applaud Bronson and Acadia for taking this action to build this beautiful, beautiful building and collaborating to expand access to in-patient behavioral mental health services in this region," Appel said. "I hope others will follow in your lead so all Michigan families can have access to essential resources, services and the support necessary to provide the appropriate level of care for all patients.

"We’re not doing it now and we really need to get there as fast as possible."

Contact reporter Greyson Steele at gsteele@battlecreekenquirer.com

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Bronson Behavioral Health Hospital unveiled in Battle Creek