Baptist Behavioral Health opening unit for older patients

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Baptist Behavioral Health is expanding care options for older patients in the Golden Triangle.

Baptist Behavioral held an open house for its new 8-bed Geriatric Psych Unit in Columbus.

The facility will serve the needs of mental health patients 55 and older with severe disabilities and those 65 and older in the general population.

Administrators at Baptist recognized a growing need for a safer environment for patients in these groups.

They also believe that the new unit will allow these patients to get the right help in the right environment.

“We have a lot of patients that go through Chancery Court, and they are picked up, and they’re placed in jail until we get a bed, just because there is no bed for them. And these folks don’t belong in the jail. They’re mental health patients, and they need to be somewhere where they can be getting helped,” said Richard Freeze, Director of Behavioral Health at BMH-GT.

The new unit will also mean new jobs. About 20 to 25 positions are expected to be created when it is fully operational.

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