Diamond Healthcare Corporation broke ground last week on its new Psychiatric Pavilion on the campus of Williamsburg Place in James City County.

The 40-bed pavilion will serve adults, older adults and impaired professionals with acute psychiatric illness, including those individuals with dual-diagnoses, such as depression and bipolar disorder.

The facility will help meet a community need for inpatient psychiatric care as Eastern State Hospital, which cares for the mentally ill, downsizes, the company said. It will also also addressing a national need for psychiatric services for physicians, dentists, nurses and other professionals in need of care, the company said.

"At both the national level and in Virginia, the definite trend is away from longer-term psychiatric hospitalization to more acute inpatient interventions with an increased reliance on community-based systems of care," David Coe, Colonial Behavioral Health's executive director, said in a news release. "Diamond’s Pavilion model fits very well within this evolving system of care."

Guernsey Tingle Architects will design the pavilion, and Henderson Construction will be the primary contractor.

It's projected to open in 2011 and bring about 75 new jobs to the Williamsburg area.

Diamond Healthcare, based in Richmond, owns Williamsburg Place and the William J. Farley Center at 5477 Mooretown Road, which specializes in treating chemical dependency. The Farley Center is an extended stay substance abuse residential treatment program with specific treatment tracks designed for treating impaired professionals including physicians, dentists, nurses and other professionals throughout the United States. Go to www.farleycenter.com for more information.

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