Ground broken for new Western State Hospital

STAUNTON -- Ground was broken this morning for a new $125 million psychiatric hospital in Staunton.

The 246-bed Western State Hospital will be built on a 66-acre site next to the existing facility.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said today that the new hospital will be more efficient to operate.

The existing facility consists of 24 buildings on 296 acres. Kaine says there's no longer a need for a sprawling campus that's expensive to maintain.

At its height, the hospital had roughly 3,300 patients. Today about 245 patients are treated there.

Western State Hospital first opened in 1828, although the campus currently in use opened in 1950.

The new hospital will be built by Balfour Beatty Construction of Fairfax. It is expected to be completed in 2013.

-- The Associated Press