MINNEAPOLIS, May 8, 2008—The Minnesota House voted by a wide margin to OK a psychiatric hospital for children to be built by Prairie St. John's in Woodbury.

The bill eliminates a state hospital construction moratorium that was preventing Prairie St. John's from building its proposed 66-bed facility.

Rep. Marsha Swails, DFL-Woodbury, authored the bill lifting the moratorium.

House support was strong, 125 yeas to 8 nays. But there is no guarantee the Senate will move on the proposal.

In the original plan, Prairie St. John's envisioned a hospital with 166 beds that would provide psychiatric and chemical dependency services to both children and adults.

The Minnesota Department of Health determined that proposal wasn't in the public interest, noting it would add mental health beds at a time when the state is seeking fewer beds and more community and preventive mental health services.

The MMA supported the idea of more psychiatric beds in the Twin Cities area, and created a task force in 2007 to address the problem.

But the MMA declined to support the Prairie St. John proposal unconditionally. "Although the Prairie St. John’s hospital would add beds to the region, which the MMA appreciates and applauds," the MMA's statement said, "the Prairie St. John's plan would adversely affect existing facilities in the metro area, forcing them to take the sickest and poorest patients."

But if  the hospital moratorium exception for Prairie St. John’s addressed the issues it outlined, the MMA would then support the legislation.

In a statement to the press, Prairie St. John's acknowledged that the MMA's comments helped shape the revamping of its proposal.

"Consistent with Minnesota Medical Association estimates, Prairie St. John’s projects that up to 90 more child/adolescent beds are needed in Minnesota. Their planned 66 bed facility will be a major step towards filling that gap," the news release said.

Pioneer Press news story