Pontiac General Hospital, the oldest hospital in the county, recently completed a $1 million addition to its inpatient adult psychiatric unit.
The new, 10-bed addition on the fourth floor increases the unit’s patient capacity to 40. It’s a part of a comprehensive plan to expand psychiatric services at the hospital.
Another approximately $1 million, 15-bed addition to the inpatient unit for developmental disability psychiatric patients is also in the works, with plans to open in 2019, according to Priyam Sharma, chief operating officer.
“There is a huge need for this in the community,” Sharma said. “There’s long queues in our emergency department for psychiatric patients. These beds will be filled quickly.”
Patients will be admitted later this week, pending final approvals from governmental agencies.
The hospital is also in the process of hiring about 12-15 new employees, such as social workers and nurses, to support the new addition, according to hospital administration.
The unit features:
* Treatment rooms
* Patient rooms with natural light, designed to eliminate risk of self-harm
* Private bathrooms
* Private meeting areas for patients and their social workers or counselors
* A “Quiet Room,” for patients to use as a safe space
Recreational therapy room
A ribbon cutting was held for the unit on Wednesday, April 11.
“This is a very good cause and I’m proud of the ways Pontiac General has come through several different metamorphosis,” Deirdre Waterman, mayor of Pontiac said. “We know mental health is a situation that gets underplayed in a lot of communities, so it’s great to see what the hospital is doing here.”
On Monday, April 16, Pontiac General Hospital will be reopining the Waterford Ambulatory Care Center, located at 1305 Oakland Blvd. in Waterford. The center was closed due to cost cutting measures by the hospital’s previous owners, according to a release.
The center will offer urgent care services from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week, with plans to add radiology services, primary care, specialty care physician offices and medical procedure rooms in the future.
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