Bridgeway in North Little Rock adds 20 beds for seniors in a new building.
Bridgeway Inc., the North Little Rock psychiatric hospital, began taking patients last week in its $4 million building that features 20 beds for seniors.
Bridgeway, an affiliate of Universal Health Services Inc. of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, had been treating senior patients for years, but it didn’t have a dedicated area for them, said Bridgeway’s CEO Jason Miller.
He said the idea for creating the 13,000-SF building began about two years ago.
The number of seniors that need the Bridgeway’s care is growing, he said, and the seniors needed to be with their peers for group therapy.
In addition, the building also features an expanded area for the Bridgeway’s electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, which is a form of treatment for major depression as well as other issues, according to the Bridgeway’s website. “ECT has been found to decrease and relieve depression among adults,” the website said.
Seniors
Miller said some of the common issues the Bridgeway’s seniors face include depression or early stages of dementia.
“But it’s really emotional disorders,” he said. “It could be some thought disorder issues.”
He said the Bridgeway, which opened in 1983, isn’t a long-term care facility. It treats children through adults.
“At times when people get to a point where outpatient services are no longer helpful or they’re unable to deal with their circumstances on their own at their home, we are a place that can give them a safe, comfortable protective environment to help them deal with their mental health or behavior health issues,” Miller said.
He said the in-patient treatments are “hopefully” nine to 12 days.
The contractor for the project was DeAngelis Diamond Healthcare Group of Sarasota, Florida. The architect was Johnson Johnson Crabtree Architects P.C. of Nashville, Tennessee.
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