Psychiatric Hospital Proposal Gets Another Push In Woodbridge

Supporters of a private mental health hospital proposed in Woodbridge are asking the Virginia Health Department for approval.

The Health Systems Agency of Northern Virginia, a non-profit that analyzes the region's health services industry, recommended against opening the 75-bed facility, according to a WTOP report. It would have been the first mental health facility in Prince William County.

County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart is sending a letter to the health department, asking that it approve the facility. "We're not asking for any funding," Stewart told WTOP. 

Does the area need a psychiatric hospital? Tell us in the comments section below!

The hospital would be built by U.S. HealthVest, a new venture created last year to develop psychiatric facilities, according to InsideNova.com. The county Board of Supervisors gave its support for the hospital in January.

Cynthia Dudley, executive director and co-founder of Trillium Drop-In Center, a mental health non-profit in Woodbridge, told InsideNova that 500 psychiatric patients are sent out of the Woodbridge area to other facilities annually.

There are mental health beds in hospitals in Manassas and Fredericksburg, but Dudley told the website, “There is a very significant difference between psychiatric beds and a free-standing psychiatric hospital."