Mental health facility at U. to expand

SALT LAKE CITY– Mental health treatment has come a long way in the past 25 years, with earlier and better intervention, which has created greater demand for services. To help meet the need, dignitaries will gather Wednesday at the University Neuropsychiatric Institute (UNI) to break ground on a new 80-bed, 120,000 square foot addition.

"I wanted to come here to have the resources to treat people in need. Since 1986, we've been working to destigmatize mental illness, and we've done so in a variety of ways, but a lot of the work is still to be done," said Mary Talboys, a licensed clinical social worker and administrator who has been at UNI since it first opened in 1986 on the University of Utah campus. "I don't know if there is a family that's not touched in some way by mental illness."

She sees much more support from both families and employers, who now have a better understanding that mental illnesses are biological brain disorders that can be treated.

About 26 percent of Americans suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder each year, and about 6 percent suffer from a serious mental illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Depression is the leading cause of disability for people ages 15 to 44 in the U.S.

Ross Van Vranken, UNI's executive director, said the expansion will help meet "a critical need for inpatient psychiatric treatment in our community," noting UNI's 90 existing beds "are always full, and there is a waiting list for many acutely ill patients," particularly children and teens.

The new facility, to be built just east of UNI at 501 Chipeta Way in Research Park at the U., will also provide more room for clinical treatment research, brain imaging and the study of the genetics of mental illness. Completion is anticipated in late 2011.

e-mail: carrie@desnews.com