What you need to know:
- Mat-Su is expanding its behavioral health system with two major facilities opening in the next two years. Mat-Su Regional Hospital is building a 45-bed inpatient psychiatric hospital in Palmer, while MyHouse is opening a new $23 million center in Wasilla that will expand housing, treatment and support services for youth and young adults.
- The projects are designed to fill gaps in the continuum of care. The new hospital will nearly triple inpatient psychiatric capacity, including 18 beds for adolescents, while MyHouse’s Redemption program will provide residential treatment for people ages 14 to 25 transitioning from inpatient hospitalization to community-based care.
- Providers say the expansion could keep more young people in Mat-Su for treatment. Limited local capacity has forced many patients to seek care in Anchorage or out of state. Mental health leaders say the new facilities will improve access to treatment, housing and outpatient services closer to home.
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WASILLA — A pair of new mental health facilities coming to Mat-Su in the next two years could have a dramatic impact on youth mental health support, giving clinicians a way to help more people in need of services while avoiding sending them to Anchorage or out of state for treatment.
In Palmer, a new freestanding inpatient mental health hospital is slated to open in 2028. The 50,000-square-foot facility, operated by Mat-Su Regional Hospital, will sit behind the hospital and increase the system’s inpatient treatment capacity from 16 beds to 45.
Across town, a new $23 million MyHouse facility near the Wasilla Police Department, slated to open in December, will include a wide array of services and assistance for homeless and struggling youth served by the nonprofit. That includes residential beds for people ages 14 to 25 who need a stepping stone between inpatient hospital care and outpatient treatment while living at home…