New Inpatient Psychiatric Unit

$9.7M project will add 20 beds to Regional Medical Center

CHESAPEAKE — Chesapeake Regional Medical Center has plans to install a new inpatient unit aimed at addressing substance abuse and mental health issues by the end of next year.

City Council members voted 8-0 to appropriate funding for a new acute inpatient behavioral health unit with 20 beds. Vice Mayor John de Triquet was absent from the meeting.

The project will cost roughly $9.7 million, funded by multiple sources and grants, including $1.5 million from the city, $3 million from the Opioid Abatement Authority Cooperative and other state and federal funding.

The project will allow the hospital to implement an inpatient psychiatric program, specifically addressing substance abuse and mental health needs.

Demolitions and renovations will be needed for the sixth floor east wing of the hospital, where the new unit will be located, according to the Chesapeake Hospital Authority. The addition of 20 acute inpatient adult beds will increase the hospital’s capacity to 330 beds. Renovations will include converting the current space into 18 private patient rooms and two handicap private rooms, along with nursing, staff and patient support areas, according to a city memo about the project.

“The outcome we wish to achieve is to support continuity of care for residents experiencing substance abuse and mental health concerns,” Chesapeake Deputy City Manager Wanda Barnard-Bailey wrote in the memo. “These units will provide services that do not exist in Chesapeake and will fill a void with community partners, such as Chesapeake Integrated Behavioral Healthcare.

(CIBH), non-profits, and private practices and practitioners to allow for a seamless delivery of mental health services from prevention to intervention to recovery.”

The Opioid Abatement Authority operates a financial assistance program that supports cooperative partnerships across municipalities in Virginia to treat, prevent and reduce opioid use disorder and the misuse of opioids. The board of directors said in a memo that the project will use funds from national opioid settlements “in a manner that saves lives, restores families, and safeguards communities.”

“This is a major challenge and will require a strengthening of partnerships between community-based organizations, local governments, state agencies, and many other stakeholders,” wrote board chair and state Sen. Todd Pillion in the memo. “Efforts such as the psychiatric unit have the potential to exemplify how we can work together to turn the tide of the opioid crisis in Virginia.”

Plans also include spaces for quiet and noisy activities, in addition to group therapy and patient laundry.

Bids for the project will be awarded before June, with an estimated completion time of November 2025.

Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133,  natalie.anderson@virginiamedia.com