RALEIGH Two rural N.C. hospitals recently received grants allowing them to increase inpatient psychiatric and substance abuse beds. The grants were awarded by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to Duke Life Point Maria Parham Medical Center in Henderson, and Charles A. Cannon Jr. Memorial Hospital in Linville.The $18 million in grants was appropriated by the N.C. General Assembly from the Dorothea Dix Hospital Property Fund. The state sold the property to the city of Raleigh last year on the agreement that the funds would go to improve mental health services in the state, one of the missions of the original Dorothea Dix Hospital.”These hospitals will provide critical access to individuals needing inpatient mental health care in these regions of our state,” said Dr. Jason Vogler, interim senior director of the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services.Duke Life Point Maria Parham Medical Center LLC in Henderson was awarded $10,010,350 to renovate and convert 33 licensed psychiatric inpatient beds for adults at the site of the closed Franklin Regional Medical Center. Charles A. Cannon Jr. Memorial Hospital in Linville was awarded $6,503,478 to convert 27 acute medical beds into licensed psychiatric inpatient beds for adults.DHHS says the projects will help reduce travel distances to inpatient beds and decrease wait times for crisis behavioral health care. At least half of the beds will serve people who are unable to pay for care, or have Medicaid, Medicare or TRICARE, a benefit of veterans and military families.
