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SIOUX FALLS (KELO.com) — Avera has opened the Helmsley Behavioral Health Center, expanding its Avera Behavioral Health Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The center will have 60,000 square feet of space to treat psychiatric needs among children, adolescents, and adults. With a large reach, it will serve a 250-mile radius that includes most of South Dakota, northwest Iowa, northeast Nebraska, and southwest Minnesota. The new four-story wing is supported by $13 million in grant and matching funding from the Helmsley Charitable Trust.
Walter Panzirer, a Helmsley Charitable Trust trustee, joined hospital officials and dignitaries on March 3 for tours and a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening. Panzirer said communities must make mental health a priority because everyone is affected. “Everybody in their family has a least one person if not many more that have problems, and we need to break those taboos,” he said. “Because having a mental health problem is no different than having high cholesterol or asthma or any type of medical problem. And you go get help for those, and it should be the same for mental health.”
The center adds several new services, including 24/7 behavioral health urgent care, observation care, youth addiction care, youth partial hospitalization, and three specialized units for children and adolescents.
“We’re thrilled to be able to offer expanded and enhanced behavioral health services,” said Thomas Otten, assistant vice president for the Avera Behavioral Health Hospital. “This wing provides more space plus addresses some previously unmet needs with new services.”
