Officials gathered in front of the Fulton State Hospital's administration building Wednesday to break ground on a new mental health facility Gov. Jay Nixon called a life-changing investment for the state's mentally ill.
Wednesday's event marked the beginning of construction that will start with the energy control center and services building, which should be completed a year from now.
The $211 million project was approved in the 2014 legislative session, and it could bring more than 2,500 jobs to the area.
Demolition was visible on the campus before the groundbreaking. Two buildings already have been razed, according to FSH Chief Operating Officer Marty Martin-Forman, and a third is halfway down to make way for a new maximum security facility containing 300 beds. The new hospital will combine patients from the current maximum security facility, the Biggs Forensic Center (186 beds), and the intermediate-security building, the Guhleman Forensic Center (91 beds).
The project is expected to be completed by December 2017.
Built in 1851, the Fulton State Hospital was the first and is currently the oldest mental health facility west of the Mississippi River. Mental Health Director Keith Schafer said the facility was originally built in response to a Missouri governor's suicide and gave a space for those "needing respite from the madness of the world around them." The building constructed then, even with additions and modifications overtime, has been called outdated and unfit for the state's mentally ill.
"The 19th century hospital was never designed to meet the needs of such patients," he said. "The Fulton State Hospital of tomorrow is designed do to exactly that."
Noting the type of care and treatment used at the original hospital, Nixon said therapy today includes group and individual counseling, recreational and occupational therapy, drug therapy and the consideration of environmental impacts on feelings. The old building, Schafer noted, does not reflect the advanced treatment conducted inside its walls.
"While we've made positive strides in the treatment of mental illness, the institution where those services are offered has been allowed to deteriorate," Nixon said. "Anyone who has toured this campus or walked its halls can see the facilities here are out of date and in serious need of repair - not befitting of the vital importance of its mission."
The new Fulton State Hospital will have shorter hallways to improve the employee sight lines; higher ceilings to prevent clients from tearing down ceiling tiles and pipes; and individual bedrooms for increased privacy. At Guhleman, clients are three to a room. There will also be increased treatment space and more room for vocational and recreational therapies.
Better use of natural light will also be beneficial to clients, Martin-Forman said.
"It's just a known fact that we all do better when you have natural light and sunshine. ... It helps people feel better," she said. "And the individuals who are here, they are already battling an illness. They, right now, have to be in spaces that are dark, without natural light, no windows and long dark hallways."
Martin-Forman said the design of the new hospital should be completed by the end of June, and it will include input from staff in areas ranging from therapeutic recreation to lighting and electrical outlets.
The design process has considered safety of the hospital's 1,157 full-time employees, 950 of which interact with clients daily, according to the Department of Mental Health. Of that number, 508 employees work in Biggs, which houses the most dangerous clients. Employee safety is an ongoing issue, Sen. Jeanie Riddle, R-Mokane, said. On Tuesday, she noted people were in her office discussing the dangerous situations they face at the hospital.
Though she was optimistic the new hospital will improve safety, Riddle said she knows the violent nature of some clients will never go away.
"Is it going to fix everything for the employees who are dealing with very dangerous clients? No. It's not. But, it's certainly a step in the right direction," Riddle said.
On-the-job injuries at the Fulton State Hospital rank the hospital as the most expensive in the state for workers' compensation costs at $4 million, according to the Department of Mental Health. Overtime pay at FSH costs the state $3.7 million annually. FSH has a 40 percent vacancy rate in nursing positions as a result of the working conditions and poor pay, which is ranked as one of the lowest in the country. However, Nixon said those attracted to this field of work aren't necessarily seeking high salaries.
"There is no more important work than dealing with folks with severe mental challenges. ... We all know that we want to have pay scales that attract the best and the brightest, but the work itself is very important, and I find for me, the public sector work, to be exciting and important," Nixon said after the ceremony. "I think you'll find that folks that work here and have worked here for decades to be dedicated to the public service mentality."
Nixon expressed thanks to several lawmakers who saw funding come through for the project, an effort that "transcended politics."
"It goes to the core of our obligation as a civilized society," Nixon said. "Quite frankly, it is our responsibility to do the best we can for people who have challenges and do the best we can to ensure that treatments get the most effective outcome possible as quickly as possible."
Related media: