UPMC To Open Behavioral Health Unit at Jameson

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — UPMC will open an 11-bed adult inpatient behavioral health unit inside its Jameson facility.

“I am honored to announce that we will be opening a UPMC Western Behavioral Health adult inpatient unit inside UPMC Jameson in New Castle,” Dave Patton, president of UPMC Horizon and UPMC Jameson, said this week at UPMC Horizon’s annual public meeting. “UPMC serves an essential purpose — to increase access to advanced, specialized health care and treatments that are available in Lawrence County. We are grateful that residents continue to put their trust in the unique expertise of UPMC.”   

Access to behavioral health services is within the top three defined community health needs for the region served by UPMC Jameson, according to the hospitals’ 2022-2025 Community Health Needs Assessment.  

UPMC has partnered with Southwest Behavioral Health Management, Inc., for a $9.5 million project to develop an 11-bed inpatient behavioral unit, serving adults aged 18 and older. 

The UPMC Western Behavioral Health unit is scheduled to open in late 2025 on the fifth floor of UPMC Jameson.

“We prioritize our resources, we leverage the expertise of UPMC, and we respond to best serve the residents of Mercer and Lawrence counties,” said Patton. “We expand and enhance the services that are needed by the people we serve.”  

Local health care advancements by UPMC over the past year include:   

• UPMC Horizon Emergency Department Expansion: A $1.5 million investment that added 1,300 square feet of space and five more beds, allowing 40 more people to be cared for per day in the ED.   

• UPMC Horizon Family Medicine Residency Program Expansion: UPMC is supporting continuity of care for people treated in any of the three UPMC emergency departments in the region who do not have an established primary care physician (PCP) by scheduling  a follow-up for them with a local family medicine resident. This resident becomes their new PCP, ensuring ongoing preventive care and consistent treatment. Additionally, the UPMC Horizon Family Medicine Residency program has expanded with a new practice in New Castle and will increase the number of Family Medicine residents from 12 to 18.  

• UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Expansion: UPMC Horizon-Shenango Valley broke ground on construction of a new vault for a second linear accelerator (LINAC) for radiation oncology treatments, expected to be completed early 2025.  

• UPMC Children’s Rehabilitation Therapies at UPMC Jameson: Bringing local access to nationally ranked UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh rehabilitation specialties, with 64 new active patients and more than 1,600 treatments  from February to August 2024.

Also this year, UPMC Horizon-Greenville and UPMC Jameson have opened additional inpatient unit beds in response to a growing demand for care and services. Surgical services capacity at UPMC Jameson is expanding with operating room renovations and advanced robotic surgery capabilities.    

The hospitals added nearly 25 new physicians across a variety of specialties, many fueled by UPMC Horizon’s General Surgery and Family Medicine residency programs, which currently have 24 residents combined.  

Patton concluded the annual meeting by thanking the UPMC Horizon & Jameson Health Foundations and staff. “We greatly appreciate our foundation whose contributions and partnership help us provide excellent care to our community,” said Patton, highlighting the expanded Medical Equipment Recycling Program (MERP) this year, the program now serving, both, Mercer and Lawrence counties.  

He credited the hospital system’s staff for their role in those advancements. 

“Our team members are the backbone of UPMC Horizon and UPMC Jameson,” Patton said. “They make our hospitals feel like a community inside the community we serve.”  

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.