New Roseburg VA acute psychiatric care building offers homelike space for vets in crisis

Light streamed in the windows and skylights at the new acute psychiatric care building at the Roseburg Veterans Affairs Medical Center on a sunny Friday. Officials praised the bright interior as one of the new facility’s best features. It’s meant to be a warm, welcoming environment for patients suffering from the worst symptoms of mental illness — suicidal thoughts, psychosis, bipolar manic episodes.

At the building’s grand opening Friday, speakers praised the new 17,690-square-foot space as a dramatic improvement over the old acute care unit in the VA’s mental health building.

The facility features 14 beds in private rooms, spacious gathering places with cheerful orange and green chairs, and a small, enclosed courtyard.

“Every creative effort was made to provide a non-institutional, homelike environment, while still complying with the very rigorous requirements for safety on such a unit,” said VA Associate Director Steve Broskey.

U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Springfield, who was credited by other speakers with securing funding for VA projects like this one, praised the new building.

“The environment is critical, when someone comes into this space who is in crisis, the daylight, the lighting, the safety features, the capability of staff to be constantly monitoring the open spaces where the vets can congregate, this is going to make a huge difference,” he said.

The old treatment unit was, to put it lightly, “a somewhat outmoded facility,” he said.

“It kind of reminded me of something in ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’” he said.

DeFazio said America made a solemn promise to care for its veterans.

“Every day we’ve got to work to uphold that promise. Today is one day where I can say that I feel really good, that we made some significant progress here. It’s a day to celebrate,” he said.

Past Douglas County Veterans Forum President Rick Sciapiti said, “This new facility is going to provide decades of safe and modern care for veterans seeking the professional help they need and deserve.”

Sciapiti believes the efforts of veterans in 2008 to save the VA from the possibility of downsizing led to approval of $55 million in spending for new buildings and renovations on the VA campus, one of which is the new acute care facility.

Other recent construction projects at the Roseburg VA include a new dental clinic and a residential care facility.

The acute psychiatric care unit cost $9.2 million to build.

Douglas County District Attorney Rick Wesenberg said the facility is evidence that Douglas County is serious about honoring its veterans.

“It’s not just something that you read on the road signs into Douglas County. We mean it, and we live it. Our VA medical center here in Roseburg and its outstanding administration works with this community and all its partners to give such words meaning,” he said.

Roseburg VA Acting Chief of Mental Health Paul Beiring said the first patients will begin moving into the new building next week. He said the facility will be fully staffed.

One of the staff members who will care for patients there is Assistant Nurse Manager Cassandra Donlon, who said she loves the new space.

“I think it’s beautiful. It’s spacious, it’s light, it’s going to be 180 percent better than what we have now,” Donlon said.

Eli Baker, facilities coordinator for prevention and management of disruptive behaviors, has conducted staff training in the new building already. He loves the new space because it feels less institutional and more therapeutic than the old space.

“It just feels like a place of healing,” he said.