News story about a psychiatric hospital break-ground in Columbia, Missouri.

1. 2/28/2017 CenterPointe Hospital breaks ground, is expected to open in October | Local | columbiamissourian.com
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/local/centerpointe­hospital­breaks­ground­is­expected­to­open­in­october/article_b7749d62­fdf7­11e6­b899­f76227c7... 1/4
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CenterPointe Hospital breaks ground, is expected to open in October
TOMÁS ORIHUELA 5 hrs ago
COLUMBIA — About 50 people gathered Tuesday morning to watch as a set of shovels broke ground to mark construction of the 72-bed
CenterPointe Hospital at Range Line Street and International Drive in north Columbia.
The 56,000-square-foot hospital (about the size of four Olympic swimming pools) will cost around $21 million to build and will employ more
than 150 people, CenterPointe CEO Buddy Turner said during the ceremony. The hospital should be 埝�nished by October.
CenterPointe o埩�ers a range of care for psychiatric disorders in adolescents and adults at its facilities in Missouri, according to the hospital
website.
Turner said specialists will need to come from around the country because of a shortage of quali埝�ed people in Missouri. Fewer than 40
percent of Missouri counties have licensed psychiatrists, according to a Hospital Industry Data Institute report.
Turner presided over the groundbreaking ceremony, which came a little more than a week after the Columbia City Council approved a
development plan for the hospital, to be set on 12 acres.
DAVIS WINBORNE
Attendees gather before q groundbreaking ceremony for the new CenterPointe Hospital Tuesday at the corner of
Range Line Street and International Drive. The hospital will provide psychiatric services to adolescents and adults,
with 72 beds for patients.
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2. 2/28/2017 CenterPointe Hospital breaks ground, is expected to open in October | Local | columbiamissourian.com
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/local/centerpointe­hospital­breaks­ground­is­expected­to­open­in­october/article_b7749d62­fdf7­11e6­b899­f76227c7... 2/4
The development plan shows that the hospital will be built toward the center of the property, with parking between the building and Range
Line Street.
The parking lot will include landscaping, and a detention pond will be created behind the hospital. The east end of the property also features
a 1.3-acre tree preservation area intended to provide a bu埩�er between the hospital and apartment developments on Edenton Boulevard.
The crowd at the ceremony gathered around and under a portable white tent to listen to Turner explain the need for CenterPointe.
"One of the reasons why we were interested in this area is because there's a signi埝�cant need of beds," Turner said. "It's a catastrophe when
people need to leave the community to receive treatment. We hope to remedy a big piece of that."
The Missouri Health Facilities Review Commission approved a certi埝�cate of need for the hospital in July.
XinXin Ou

3. 2/28/2017 CenterPointe Hospital breaks ground, is expected to open in October | Local | columbiamissourian.com
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Tomas Orihuela
Spring 2017 Public Life reporter. I'm an exchange junior studying photojournalism with an emphasis on print and social media.
Mark Stringer, director of the Missouri Department of Mental Health, and Second Ward Councilman Michael Trapp were among the six
people who shoved spades into the ground during the ceremony. Stringer, too, cited Missouri's limited access to mental services but was
optimistic that the state can make progress.
“We had a patient that had to travel 10 hours between northeast Missouri and southwest Missouri," Stringer said. "It’s a chronic problem that
we needed to change."
He also noted that the hospital will be able to accommodate and house those su埩�ering from mental illness.
"They have nowhere else to go," Stringer said. "This will create an option for them."
Turner said the hospital also will be able to care for those who now are forced to go to emergency rooms "where they don't belong."
CenterPointe will provide inpatient and outpatient services for both adolescents and adults.
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MORE INFORMATION
New psychiatric hospital helps 埝�ll gap in mental health services