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New Glasgow State Nursing Facility officially opens

Long-term care center for individuals with mental illness, intellectual disabilities

GLASGOW, Ky. (July 24, 2013) – Gov. Steve Beshear, Health and Family Services Secretary Audrey Tayse Haynes and officials from the Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities (BHDID) gathered Wednesday for the official ribbon-cutting at the new facility for people receiving services at the newly built Glasgow State Nursing Facility.

The Glasgow State Nursing Facility while it was under construction.
The Glasgow State Nursing Facility while it was under construction. Residents will move into the new 100-bed structure by early September.

“We have learned a great deal about the role the environment plays in the lives of individuals with mental illness or developmental and intellectual disabilities, and how a positive environment can influence therapy and health outcomes,” Beshear said. “We have built a facility that will not only better enable the provision of high-quality health care, but will also nurture and enhance the lives of each person who resides here.”

Residents at the Glasgow State Nursing Facility will move into the new 100-bed structure by early September. The facility is a licensed, state-owned and operated long-term care center for individuals with mental illness who need both mental health treatment and skilled nursing services. Many of the residents also have intellectual or developmental disabilities.

The residents of the facility require a higher level of care than those at most long-term care facilities in the state. Staff members are trained to provide specialized care to support the treatment of individuals with dementia and other mental illness and disabilities.

Glasgow State Nursing Facility also is the only long-term care facility in Kentucky that has been recognized for its expertise in caring for individuals with Huntington’s disease – a degenerative illness characterized by uncontrollable physical movement and the loss of mental abilities. The center earned the designation from the Huntington’s Disease Society of America.

 

Prior to the formation of the nursing facility in July 1977, the current Glasgow State facility was home to the State Regional Tuberculosis Hospital. Structural problems with the original building necessitated the construction of this new facility that had its groundbreaking May 11, 2011. The new center, designed by Lexington-based CMW Inc., is a one-story, 55,098-square-foot building with 100 beds. The contractor for the project was D.W. Wilburn from Lexington. The total cost of the project was $20 million, including design, review, inspection and construction.

The Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities also plans for the new facility to have an enhanced role as a resource to community providers, by developing an increased capacity to deliver specialized care on an outpatient basis.

The facility has 167 employees, including five physicians, a part-time psychiatrist, a part-time psychological associate, director of nursing, RNs and LPNs and other professional staff.

“Today marks a new era for behavioral health care for our residents of Glasgow State Nursing Facility,” Haynes said. “Gov. Beshear and his administration have shown a true commitment to our most vulnerable citizens in the completion of this project. He continues to enhance services and to advocate for the needs of individuals with mental illness and intellectual or developmental disabilities even in challenging economic times.”