CHI Williston bringing back inpatient behavioral health unit

WILLISTON, N.D. (KUMV) - The president of CHI St. Alexius Health Williston says he plans on restoring the hospital’s inpatient behavioral health unit.

President Garrick Hyde says that the wing of the hospital has gone unused since May 2010. Thanks to a $2 million grant by the state government, Hyde says they will now provide both psychiatric and substance abuse treatment.

“We will be able to have 10 inpatient behavioral health spaces here. They will be the only rooms for all of western North Dakota and eastern Montana,” said Hyde.

Hyde says it’s expected to be a $4 million renovation for a 50-year-old facility. Last week, the Williams County Commission approved $200,000 towards the project. The CHI Foundation will cover the rest.

At the county commission meeting last week, Hyde said the hospital could lose half a million dollars a year in operating costs for the unit, but it’s a necessary service.

Hyde says he hopes to have the unit completed next summer.