New Cleveland Heights Behavioral Health Center Makes Debut
By HCO Staff
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio—The MetroHealth System is filling a critical community need by opening the Cleveland Heights Behavioral Health Hospital, offering 112 inpatient beds to those who need treatment for mental illness, substance use disorder and other conditions.
The opening of the $42 million facility is believed to be the largest investment in behavioral health in Northeast Ohio in at least 30 years.
The opening comes as the demand for mental health counseling surges post-Covid, and as Cuyahoga County is on pace to have a record number of fatal overdoses this year.
“We know there is an urgent need for these behavioral health services, and MetroHealth is proud to make this care available to everyone in the community,” said MetroHealth CEO and President Akram Boutros, MD. “We all have a friend, a relative or a neighbor who is struggling. This investment is a testament to the fact that recovery works and people can get better.”
The new three-story, 100,000 square-foot hospital will offer inpatient treatment for conditions including bipolar disorder, depression, addiction, mood disorders and dual diagnosis (those dealing with both a mental illness and substance abuse). The facility will offer treatment to adolescents, adults and seniors.
The hospital expects to treat about 5,000 patients a year, with an average length of stay of about a week. Patients would then transition to additional treatment after stabilization. The hospital will also offer extensive outpatient treatment.
“This new hospital is a vital part of a community-wide continuum of care in which we all work together to make it easier for people to get the help they need,” said Julia Bruner, MD, MetroHealth Senior Vice President for Behavioral Health and Correctional Medicine.
The hospital is located at 10 Severance Circle, connected to MetroHealth’s existing medical facility, which has an Emergency Department and 12 beds for patients with less-complex conditions needing shorter hospital stays. The Cleveland Heights Medical Center also offers a variety of outpatient services, including: diagnostic x-ray; CAT scan; laboratory services; colon cancer screening; allergy shots; dermatology; eye care; sleep medicine; sports medicine; and physical, occupational and speech therapy, among others.
The Behavioral Health Hospital will add 225 jobs and generate an estimated $350,000 in additional tax revenue for Cleveland Heights.
Forty beds are available currently, with the rest being phased in later this year and through 2023.
The behavioral health expansion will help reduce Cuyahoga County’s critical shortage of care and treatment capacity. In 2019, nearly half of the residents who required behavioral health inpatient care received it outside of Cuyahoga County. National guidelines reveal the county has 220 fewer beds than what is needed to adequately serve the needs of local patients.
Hasenstab Architects, Inc. served as the main project architect and AMHigley as the general contractor.