WILLMAR -- Ground-breaking for a 16-bed psychiatric hospital will be held at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in Willmar.
The public is invited to attend the half-hour ceremony, which will take place at the construction site, 1208 Olena Ave. S.E., located near the YMCA.
The community behavioral health hospital will provide short-term residential treatment for adults with mental illness.
It is one of 10 small, community-based hospitals that are being built in Minnesota to replace regional treatment centers, including the Willmar Regional Treatment Center.
The community behavioral health hospitals are part of a "seamless" network of care to provide community-based treatment for mental illness, said Kandiyohi County Administrator Larry Kleindl. "This is the future for mental health."
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Kandiyohi County will own the $3,710,000 building and will lease it back to the state, which will operate the hospital. Lease payments from the state will cover the county's cost. The county secured a tax-exempt, lease-purchase loan from Wells Fargo to build the hospital.
Special guests invited to the event include elected officials, staff members and others.
-- Carolyn Lange
