Columbia, Tenn.-based Maury Regional Medical Center and Brentwood, Tenn.-based TriStar Health will embark on a $24.4 million venture to build a 60-bed behavioral health hospital in Columbia, Tenn., according to the Columbia Daily Herald.
Officials from both organizations said they are currently in the process of procuring land on which to build the hospital. They will file a certificate of need with the Tennessee Health Services and Development Agency, according to the report.
If the collaborative project is approved, officials expect the facility to open as early as the second quarter of 2018. Officials said the medical facility will employ approximately 100 individuals.
"For quite some time, we have identified a need for additional mental-health resources," said Alan Watson, CEO of Maury Regional Medical Center, in a statement. "Hospital emergency departments across the state continue to be overrun with patients needing mental-health services."