Backers of psychiatric facility make their case

At a public hearing Tuesday, a Prairie St. John's official tried to dispel other hospitals' concerns over plans to build in Woodbury.

By KEVIN GILES, Star Tribune

Last update: January 23, 2008 - 12:58 AM

Representatives of east-metro hospitals stated their objections Tuesday night to a proposal by a Fargo, N.D., firm to build a psychiatric hospital in Woodbury.

Administrators from HealthEast Care System and Regions and Fairview hospitals detailed a number of concerns at the Minnesota Department of Health public hearing in Woodbury, which drew about 100 people. Many of the attendees were associated with mental health services currently offered in the metro area.

The proposed Prairie St. John's Woodbury hospital would include 96 beds in a first phase and 48 more after five years. Half of those 144 would be for children and adolescents. Prairie St. John's first must secure a legislative exemption from a 1984 state moratorium on new hospital beds.

Dr. Stephen Setterberg, a founding psychiatrist at Prairie St. John's, opened the hearing with a plea that Minnesota mental health care providers accept his firm's promise to bring more services.

"We're not big business; we're not a for-profit boogeyman," he said.

Setterberg refuted several objections from existing hospitals.

They included statements that a Prairie St. John's Hospital in Woodbury would diminish a small pool of available mental health professionals.

The proposed hospital also would include services for chemical dependency. Prairie St. John's opened outpatient clinics in Woodbury and Minnetonka in 2005 and owns a psychiatric hospital in Fargo.

Some speakers, including a woman who described her brother's suicide that resulted from drug use and depression, said they found Minnesota's current mental health system lacking.

But others, including Joe Clubb, director of behavioral health at HealthEast, said building a hospital with more beds is not the solution. Instead, he said, several health care providers are working on a plan for more outpatient treatment.

Several east-metro hospitals have written letters to the Health Department objecting to the Prairie St. John's plan.

Allowing Prairie St. John's to open such a hospital would hurt mental health care in Minnesota for the elderly, disabled and poor, and invite competition for a small number of available psychiatrists and chemical dependency counselors, the chief executive officer of St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Paul said in a letter to state health officials.

Regions Hospital, in St. Paul, also sent objections to the Health Department.

But in Woodbury, Mayor Bill Hargis said the Prairie St. John's proposal would be a nice addition to Woodbury's economy and fits well with the city's vision of a medical district around Woodwinds Hospital.

"It's a good use of the land," he said.

Kevin Giles • 651-298-1554