EASLEY -- In its latest attempt to replace the aging Marshall I. Pickens Hospital, Prisma is looking to build a new $137 million facility on Old Easley Bridge Road.
Prisma submitted its "certificate of need" application to the state for the 135,000-square-foot psychiatric hospital in early October, and a 90-day public comment window opened Oct. 25 after the S.C. Department of Public Health deemed the application complete.
The new Prisma Health Behavioral Hospital would be built on 48 acres at the intersection of Old Easley Bridge Road and S.C. Highway 153. The new hospital would house 72 adults, and 40 beds would be reserved for children and adolescents. It would also have its own assessment office for direct admission to potentially divert patients from emergency rooms and allow walk-in service.
The current Marshall Pickens, which broke ground in 1967, has 65 inpatient beds at the Greenville Memorial Campus. It's the only location in the Upstate offering inpatient treatment to children under age 12.
The building is "space constrained, past end of life and is not situated for long-term viability," according to Prisma's application. As a result, Prisma spends time and money transporting patients to other facilities, the application said.
The hospital system has tried twice in recent memory to replace the facility. Then-Greenville Health System officials a proposed $64 million hospital in 2016 that was delayed, reconsidered and denied in 2018, according to The Greenville News.
After becoming Prisma health, the system proposed another replacement for the psychiatric hospital in 2018, according to local reporting, paused once more as the now-Prisma system needed to raise employee wages.
In its 2024 application, Prisma acknowledges access to behavioral health services is "rapidly becoming a major public health concern."
It expects the number of discharges to grow annually by 6 percent, according to the application, starting with 2,881 in its first year. The hospital had 1,666 discharges in fiscal year 2023 and 1,824 in fiscal year 2024.
Prisma expects that the new facilities will decrease the direct cost per patient day by almost 16 percent by its fifth year. It has used retention and recruiting tactics in recent years that it feels will ensure the hospital is staffed when it opens.
The initial timeline indicates the new hospital at 4069 Old Easley Bridge Road could be complete by March 2027 if its certificate of need is issued in March 2025.
Prisma's Board of Directors approved the project in January.
If approved, the estimated cost breakdown shows $111 million to be spent on construction of the building alone. Other costs include consultations, architect's fees and equipment.
Marshall Pickens would be demolished if the new behavioral health facility moves forward, according to Prisma's application.
"Affected persons" have 30 days from Oct. 25 to submit requests for a public hearing, according to the health department.
More information is available by calling (803) 545-4200 or via email [email protected].