Acadia Healthcare Company Inc (NASDAQ:ACHC) has been given the nod by Florida Hospital regulators to commence the construction of a new hospital in collaboration with the University of Miami.
Acadia Healthcare and the University of Miami will work together to build the psychiatric hospital. The Florida hospital regulators gave the company the approval recommendation for its application while also denying a similar application from a rival firm, possibly playing favorites politically. Generation Behavioral Health filed an application in which it stated that building the hospital would cost $48.2 million. The construction costs have been estimated at $27.9 million while $19.5 million will be used to set up a residential treatment facility.
The new hospital will offer a lot of benefits to the community
Acadia Healthcare’s new hospital is expected to generate a noteworthy economic boost and also offer a significant impact to the community. Additionally, it is expected to create more job opportunities. The hospital should be fully staffed in the next five years with about 174 employees and a minimum of 88 staff members provided by the University of Miami. There has been no official report from Acadia or from the university regarding the matter.
Acadia Health submitted its application to the Health Care Administration through its Certificate of Need process in February this year. The agency gave the approval recommendation on June 2 and also issued a denial recommendation to Florida Behavioral Health’s competing application. The University of Miami hospital will de-license 104 psychiatric beds for adults at its medical campus as per the proposal. It will also allocate 80 beds elsewhere in the county as part of setting up the new hospital.
The new hospitals will also be home to clinical offices, research space, faculty offices and space for family members to meet with patients. It is also expected to provide space for education and training. It will specialize in numerous disorders including eating disorders, geriatrics, and mood disorder among others.
Acadia Healthcare stock closed the latest trading session at $43.51.