Grand opening set for next week on a new wing designed to restore residential treatment services at Volunteer Behavioral Health’s South Willow Avenue campus.
The upgrade will also increase bed capacity for crisis stabilization and medical detox. Cookeville Campus Director Shane Farris Farris said the expansion allows the program to expand.
“The part that we’re so excited about is that our residential program is now opening back up and we’re starting out with 16 female beds and then when the phase that we’re currently working on is completed we’ll have another 16 beds for male clients,” Farris said.
Farris said the facility operates the only crisis stabilization unit in the Upper Cumberland region. The crisis program is funded by grants, which Farris said allows the center to accept patients regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay.
“It’s critical across the state and especially here in the Upper Cumberland where there are only a handful of crisis stabilization units across the state and we are one of those,” Farris said.
Farris said the new wing will eventually bring the total capacity of the campus to 76 beds once all development phases are finalized. The addition of residential care extends the time staff can work with a patient in a 24/7 setting from 12 days to nearly a month.
“It just gives us longer time in a person’s life to connect to them, which is going to make their recovery more sustainable,” Farris said.
Farris said the modern infrastructure is intended to address disparities in behavioral health by providing a higher standard for underserved populations.
“This is just going to really give the clients that we serve, our underserved populations that we serve, a lot more respect, gives them the opportunity to receive some dignity in their services that they receive and it’s top-notch,” Farris said.
Farris said the organization suspended its residential program in November, 2023 to prepare for the facility upgrades.