JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A soon-to-be new facility in St. Louis County is aiming to address an unmet need in the area: psychiatric beds for geriatric patients. On Monday, the proposed Maryland Heights Center for Cognitive Disorders received a certificate of need (CON) for the project.
“The proposed unit will focus on serving the needs of the geriatric population in St. Louis County and the surrounding area. The services offered by the unit will particularly serve the elderly in the community who require inpatient hospitalization due to mental disorders,” the application states.
The need-based formula used by the Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee shows a need for 328 psychiatric beds in the Maryland Heights Center service area. Representatives with the center contended the need is specifically greater for the geriatric population.
The Maryland Heights Center is expected to cost $5.7 million and be completed within the year. The committee unanimously approved of the project.
The 16-bed psychiatric hospital was just one of several agenda items at one of six yearly certificate of need meetings for the Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee
A new $5.1 million assisted living facility in Raytown, Missouri, was awarded a certificate of need. The Turnleaf Villas Senior Community is set to provide 10 private bedrooms for assisted living in a single facility, 18 private bedrooms for Alzheimer’s Memory Care in two facilities and 14 two-bedroom, two-bath, and single-car garage townhomes for senior independent living.
“Seniors will have access to various types of care and have the ability to live within the same community through their lives and remain comfortably with the people, [surroundings], and services they are familiar with,” the application states.
Turnleaf Villas did receive some pushback on their proposed 56-bed unit. Sen. Mike Cunningham raised questions on how it would affect a nearby facility which covers a large Medicaid population is currently struggling with staffing needs. He was the lone no vote on the proposal.
Belton Regional Medical Center and Saint Luke’s East Hospital both received unanimous approval to purchase a robotic surgery system.
The committee postponed making a decision on Sunshine Villa Homes application to purchase 4-ALF beds from Delta South. Both facilities are owned by the same individual.
The bed transfer was already postponed from an earlier expedited ballot and was postponed again, this time until the July 7 meeting. Unless the committee takes action, the request will automatically take effect on July 15.
Alisha Shurr was a reporter for The Missouri Times and The Missouri Times Magazine. She joined The Missouri Times in January 2018 after working as a copy editor for her hometown newspaper in Southern Oregon. Alisha is a graduate of Kansas State University.
