OSF HealthCare and New York-based US HealthVest are moving forward on a $34.3 million behavioral health hospital in Peoria, according to a recent application with the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board.
The project, first announced last fall, will include 100 beds and feature adult specialized inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services, including programs for drug abuse, dual diagnosis of mental health and substance use disorder, women’s trauma, veterans, and seniors.
The application said the joint venture comes as a recent assessment found that mental health is one of the most significant health needs in the Peoria region.
While the review board’s calculations find the region has an excess of 41 acute mental illness beds, the applicants said that last year more than 600 patients at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center’s emergency department in Peoria left the region for care, which they called “experimental evidence that the need is much greater than this standard.”
“Addressing the community concerns requires high priority attention and coordinated efforts by healthcare providers and agencies in the region,” they said.
The groups said last fall that once finished, the hospital will be the largest of its kind in the state south of Chicago. If approved, it’s expected to be complete by the end of 2025.
The review board is tentatively scheduled to take up the plan at its May 9 meeting.