Atrium Health to invest $340M in behavioral health, including new hospital

Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health plans to invest $340 million over five years to expand behavioral health services, including a new behavioral health hospital.

Six things to know:

1. The new hospital will be created by renovating an existing building in Charlotte’s University City area, according to an Oct. 15 health system news release. It will have 168 inpatient beds for pediatric and adult patients, a net gain of 102 beds.

2. The hospital will offer inpatient care and specialized treatment, including procedure- and device-based options for adults who haven’t improved with standard medications or therapy. Outpatient services will include therapy, medication management and intensive treatment programs. The investment also covers a new behavioral health emergency department and a larger crisis stabilization unit.

3. Renovating instead of building from scratch lets the system target a 2028 opening, 12 to 18 months earlier than new construction would. Atrium Health Behavioral Health Davidson will continue to provide inpatient care, and Atrium Health Behavioral Health Charlotte will continue to offer outpatient and crisis services.

4. Once complete, the hospital is expected to add 35,000 inpatient days of care each year, and the expanded outpatient clinics are expected to add more than 19,500 visits a year.

5. Over the past six years, the system’s behavioral health-related emergency department visits rose 13%, and adolescents made up 17% of those visits. In 2025, pediatric patients accounted for 26% of behavioral health-related ED visits, and Atrium treated nearly 2,000 pediatric patients in inpatient settings and nearly 20,000 in outpatient settings.

6. The investment also expands urgent and crisis care, workforce development and community programs such as Wellness Without Walls, a street psychiatry program. To build its workforce, Atrium is expanding its psychiatry residency and adolescent psychiatry fellowship opportunities and plans to launch an addiction fellowship.

“Behavioral health is one of the greatest unmet needs in healthcare today, and it touches nearly every family and community,” Eugene Woods, CEO of parent company Advocate Health, said in the release. “This $340 million investment reflects our conviction that mental health deserves the same level of care, expertise and focus as any other aspect of healthcare.”

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