Mercy Health broke ground on a brand-new behavioral health hospital on Belmont Avenue in Youngstown.

Right now it's a space of land with dirt and construction, but will soon be a nearly 62-thousand-square-foot mental health hospital with over 70 beds. 

The mental health facility is in partnership with Lifepoint Health and will be right next to a rehabilitation facility, also under construction.

Mercy Health Lorain & Youngstown President John Luellen said not only will this facility address the need for mental health services that don't get enough attention, but also the need for space, which is currently "inadequate."

Luellen said St. Elizabeth's Hospital doesn't have the space to provide this level of behavioral health care, at a time when the need to help those of all ages is lacking attention.

"One of the challenges we face in the mental health space is that the inpatient needs are much much greater than our inpatient capacity across the Mahoning Valley," he said, "We have many patients who are transferred across the state for inpatient care, and that's really challenging."

That's why Mercy Health is joining forces with Lifepoint to provide a wide range of inpatient and outpatient treatment, nearly doubling capacity in the inpatient setting to address that need.

"The services provided those individuals that are in a critical nature, suicidal ideations, severe anxiety, depression," Lifepoint President Russ Bailey said, adding services will include, "individual treatment, group treatment, some relaxation, some yoga. We've got all kinds of other things that we have for our patients that come through."

Bailey said there will also be specialty programs to help serve first responders, active duty military and veterans. 

Construction of the Mercy Health behavioral hospital is set to be finished in July of 2025. 

Meanwhile, a rehabilitation facility is under construction right next door that's set to be finished in November.