A mental health facility wants to add more beds to its Kernersville location. Supporters and detractors both spoke out at a public hearing Monday.
A majority of the seven speakers supported Old Vineyard Behavioral Health Services' request for state approval to add 60 inpatient psychiatric beds. According to the Winston-Salem Journal, the expansion is projected to cost $13.8 million and be completed in January 2017.
Kevin Patton, Old Vineyard's chief executive, said the provider would add 67 full-time jobs with the expansion. Patton says they need the expansion, since they had to turn away more than 2,000 people last year because they had no beds available.
The expansion is being opposed by Service Employees International Union, claiming issues with low nursing staffing and violations of patient rights.
The application review process by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services began following the public hearing. It could take several months for regulators to make a decision.
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