FARGO 鈥� The Veterans Affairs Health Care System in Fargo will embark on a new chapter this week to improve mental health care options for its patients.
The Fargo VA is holding a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday, Sept. 6, for a new outpatient mental wellness and recovery facility at 2101 Elm St. N.
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Jason Petti, interim medical center director, said the facility will bring 鈥渙ne-stop shopping鈥� for veterans seeking care.
鈥淚f a primary care provider sees you, provides you with medications, things like that, your mental health provider has access to that. They can do any adjustments,鈥� he said.
The two-story building, with approximately 8,000 square feet of space for offices, patient care and group therapy, will go up near the north entrance of the VA campus.
A one-story building currently in that spot, vacated by general administrative employees this week, will be torn down with those workers relocating to a downtown Fargo space leased by the VA.
Federal funds appropriated by Congress and totaling approximately $21.5 million will cover the cost of construction, Petti said.
The facility will help improve mental wellness and recovery to potentially more than 34,000 veterans in the area of the Fargo VA and at 10 community-based outpatient clinics.
Those clinic locations are in Grand Forks, Grafton, Devils Lake, Jamestown, Bismarck, Dickinson, Williston and Minot in North Dakota, along with Bemidji and Fergus Falls in northwest Minnesota.
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Teresa Imholte, associate chief of staff for mental health, said the behavioral health interdisciplinary program teams will move into the new mental wellness facility, as will an outpatient mental health team, which includes a psychiatrist, therapists, nurses and pharmacy.
Currently, teams are spread out in the main VA building.
鈥淭hat鈥檒l be nice for the teams 鈥� their offices will physically be together,鈥� Imholte said.
The post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD clinical team, will also be housed in the new facility.
Imholte said the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is at the forefront of research determining the effectiveness of psychotherapies and practices used, including treatment for PTSD.
Patient rooms in the new facility will be designed with a therapeutic environment in mind, she said.
Certain group therapy sessions will be offered in person, some are hybrid, and others are strictly virtual.
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In fact, many of the VA鈥檚 mental health services can be done virtually, and the VA will offer use of iPads for veterans who don鈥檛 have access to one, Imholte said.
Other mental health programs for the Fargo VA include suicide prevention, homeless assistance and substance use disorder treatment.
Imholte said one stigma that prevents some people, including veterans, from seeking mental health treatment is that they鈥檒l be in it for the rest of their lives.
鈥淭hat is definitely not the case,鈥� she said.
The community is invited to the groundbreaking ceremony, which takes place at 10:30 a.m. Friday, just north of the former general administrative building.
Afterward, construction crews will set up fencing and begin demolition sometime shortly after.
Construction is expected to be finished in late 2025, Petti said.
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