State opens mental-health research, care center

LITTLE ROCK Arkansas opened a $32 million mental-health research, teaching and patient care center Tuesday one of only nine in the country to combine all these services in one place.

The opening of the Psychiatric Research Institute in Little Rock marked the first time in 30 years the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences will offer inpatient care for people with mental illnesses.

Outpatient care will begin Monday. The first admissions for inpatients are scheduled for Feb. 3.

Dr. G. Richard Smith, institute director, told hundreds who attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday in the glassed-in atrium of the six-story building that he expects some 110,000 patient visits a year.

He predicted the institute would change people's lives through quality care, advanced research into substance abuse and mental illness, and teaching programs that produce health professionals with the latest skills in relieving those who have mental illness.

Smith noted that the institute sits on the former site of the late 19th century Arkansas Lunatic Asylum, and called upon his audience to reflect on how far mental-health treatment has come since then and on the potential for advancement.

"We are celebrating and anticipating all the transformations that will occur in this building over its lifetime," Smith said.

First lady Ginger Beebe, who has visited with Arkansas families contending with mental illness, said she is committed to changing public perception. She said mental illness is not cause for shame.

"I made a commitment then to raise the awareness in our state that people will understand that mental illness is a disease ... and that that disease is treatable," she said.

The 110,000-square foot building sits on the UAMS campus and includes 40 beds for inpatient care, the Walker Family Clinic for outpatient care, the Center for Addiction Research and the Substance Abuse Treatment Clinic.

The private hospital rooms will serve four inpatient care units: children, geriatric, acute-care for adults, and patients who have additional medical needs. The rooms on the two top floors have large glass windows that allow in natural light and provide a wide view of the sky. Smith had considered putting administrative offices on the upper floors of the institute but decided patients would be better served by those surroundings.

The outpatient clinic will provide general mental-health care while also focusing on the treatment of food addiction, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. The clinic expects to serve more than 50,000 visitors each year.

In the basement, a $3 million, 10,000-pound tool was installed that will serve institute researchers. The 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging system is twice as powerful as standard MRI machines. The equipment captures images of blood flow and brain activity.

"Our vision is to be world class and to improve the health of Arkansans," said UAMS Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson. "South and north, east and west, we want to make psychiatric care better in the state."

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University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences www.uams.edu