Giving New Life to Crownsville Hospital

Some potentially good news to take us into the weekend. The Capital reports that the Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC) may be interested in converting some space at the old Crownsville Hospital into a new 40-bed mental health facility. The facility would also house services for teenagers that are currently located elsewhere on the campus.

Currently, there are only 15 beds for psychiatric patients in the entire County, and all of those are located at North Arundel Hospital in Glen Burnie. Despite getting over 160 people a month in its emergency room seeking mental health services, AAMC currently has no facilities to serve these patients. Some 70 percent of psychiatric patients end up seeking care outside the County as a result.

What we have here is a clear need on the part of the community for adequate mental health treatment facilities, a party eager to fulfill that need, and a site that is perfect for redevelopment. Let's hope this plan pans out, and that those individuals so desperately in need of top notch mental health care are able to soon receive it at these rejuvenated facilities.