North Star Behavioral Health System officials are pursuing plans to build an 18-bed hospital plus a 60-bed residential treatment facility for children in Wasilla.
The move comes as the Legislature calls for more in-state treatment of severely emotionally disturbed Alaska children, because as many as 425 children are sent Outside for treatment every year.
"It's a big project, and we're excited," said North Star chief executive Kathy Cronen.
The health care provider, which operates two facilities in Anchorage and another in Palmer, is working to acquire land for the project in the Meadow Lakes area north of Wasilla, she said.
Another provider also is trying to boost the availability of children's mental health services. Providence Alaska Medical Center is seeking approval from the state Department of Health and Social Services to build a $25 million, 60-bed psychiatric facility in Anchorage.
North Star is expanding its other facilities as well. It plans to open nine new beds at its Palmer facility in mid-February and add another nine beds this summer, Cronen said.
In Anchorage the DeBarr Road facility will gain another 18 beds, she said. Although a general contractor has not yet been chosen, Cronen said construction could begin in the next 60 to 90 days with completion set for summer. North Star officials are finalizing plans including the project cost, she said.
The residential facility is an important component for treatment, Cronen said.
"It's our belief that what is needed is not acute care but residential beds," she said.
In-state treatment is a plus, too.
"We feel that the best service to the state and to the children is that the child be served in state," she said.
Demand for mental health care services has climbed at North Star and Providence in recent years, according to state Department of Health and Social Services certificate of need coordinator David Pierce. In 1997 admissions totaled 1,008, and by 2001 climbed to 1,382. Of those figures, Alaska Psychiatric Institute held steady at about 185 annual admissions.
The total number of bed days for patients in 1997 was 15,651. Last year that figure reached 28,273. The number of bed days declined at API during that time.
Both the Providence and North Star project in Wasilla contain components for children's psychiatric services, which is the focus of a bill now before the Legislature.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 21 outlines a lack of in-state psychiatric treatment services for children and aims to support development of Alaska residential treatment facilities. It acknowledges a problem and looks at solutions, Cronen said.
Sponsored by the Senate Health, Education and Social Services Committee, the bill was referred to the Senate Rules Committee Feb. 6.
Text of the bill reports that "on Oct. 2, 2001 Alaska's Medicaid program funded over 300 severely emotionally disturbed Alaska children placed in out-of-state residential treatment facilities by the Department of Health and Social Services or private parties."
Of the 561 beds for all types of licensed child residential treatment in Alaska, only 108 provide the same level of treatment received by severely emotionally disturbed children in out-of-state placements, the bill said.
The bill's authors hope increased numbers of in-state beds would reduce the amount the state pays for treatment outside Alaska, said Jerry Burnett, legislative assistant to Sen. Lyda Green, R-Matanuska-Susitna, who serves as chairwoman of the committee working on the bill.
Patients spend less time in treatment when they are at in-state facilities plus the cost per child lower, he said. More Alaska residential mental health care facilities for children could mean more jobs for Alaskans, too, he said.
The bill, which doesn't call for funding, touts the benefits to patients' treatment closer to home and family. It also urges the governor to direct the state Department of Health and Social Services and other agencies to work together and make it a priority to develop in-state residential care for children who would otherwise have to be place in out-of-state facilities.
Some regulatory changes might be needed for some facility development, Burnett said.
Cronen did not release a cost estimate for North Star's Wasilla facility. She said construction could be finished in less than two years.
North Star chose to study sites in the Matanuska-Susitna area because it would be easier to find a lot size suited to the hospital and residential treatment cottage concept there than in Anchorage, she said. The health care provider's Palmer facility includes 12 acres.
North Star officials told the state health department they believe there is a need for mental health care services in the Palmer-Wasilla area.
Life Quest Comprehensive Mental Health Services of Wasilla also provides services but primarily handles outpatient treatment, said chief executive Bill Hogan. The health care provider operates a seven-bed residential treatment center for teenagers in the custody of the Division of Family and Youth Services.
A new facility built by North Star in the area would probably serve younger children, he said. However, Life Quest offers counseling services in the area and could work with North Star for children's treatment once they complete residential treatment, he said.
