Missouri Governor Mike Parson and state mental health leaders are celebrating the construction of a new mental health facility in Fulton after a ribbon cutting Wednesday morning.
The Jeremiah W. “Jay” Nixon Forensic Center will house 300 psychiatric patients that are considered to be a risk to themselves or others. The total cost of the project is more than $200 million. It will replace the current facility, which has buildings constructed between the 1850s to the 1980s. Former Missouri governor Jay Nixon pushed for funding for the project in 2014.
“These folks are really in deep distress, and we were able to get folks to come together to do this because it was the right thing to do,” Nixon said. “I’m confident that it’ll help the department to keep longevity among employees, safety among employees, and ultimately much better outcomes here.”
Turnover has been a problem at the hospital for years. According to the Missouri Department of Mental Health, the registered nurse vacancy rate at Fulton State Hospital was 34% in FY 2017. The state average was 13% at the time.
Governor Mike Parsons said his career in law enforcement led him to think that Missouri could do better for those in psychiatric facilities.
“Today I think is a perfect example of what we do when we put politics to the side sometimes and we really figure out, ‘What is the best thing to do for Missourians?’. That’s what this facility is about.”
Fulton Hospital CEO Robert Reitz said the new facilities are much safer.
“The lines of sight are 1000% better than they were in the old building,” Reitz said. “In the old building, we used to have to set staff in a corner somewhere to watch down this hallway to make sure something wasn’t going on because the nurses couldn’t see from their nurses station. We won’t have to have that here.”
Reitz hopes to move patients into the new structure in July.
