4/25/2022
SOMERSET, Pa. – Today, UPMC Western Behavioral Health at Twin Lakes broke ground on a $16 million expansion project, which will increase the number of beds by 60% and add 26 new jobs. The project, which includes the addition of a new building and a renovation of the existing facility, is expected to be completed in early 2023.
“We were so fortunate to have Twin Lakes officially join UPMC Western Behavioral Health in January 2021,” said Deborah Brodine, president, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital and UPMC Senior Services. “The need for substance use disorder withdrawal management and residential addiction treatment has grown exponentially over many years and increasing the bed capacity will help cover an ever-growing behavioral health service need.”
This project is being funded through substantial support from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), as well as generous contributions from the Richard King Mellon Foundation and the Wheeler Family Charitable Foundation.
Preparations for this project began several years ago. “We started the planning phase for enhancements to Twin Lakes prior to our affiliation with UPMC. Our initial plan was to just upgrade our current facilities, but we’re doing more than that. We are expanding to create additional care capacity, which will also result in new job opportunities,” said Andy Rush, president, UPMC Somerset. “This project is an example of UPMC’s commitment to enhance the quality of health and life in the communities we serve.”
Improving access to behavioral health care is a top priority of UPMC in the west central Pennsylvania region. “For the last several cycles of the west central region’s Community Health Needs Assessment, which identifies the most prevalent health needs that we should be addressing as a health care organization, behavioral health, especially as it relates to access to substance use disorder treatment, has been included as a top priority,” said Dave Martin, market president, UPMC Central Region.