The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS) has been working diligently to secure partnerships with community providers in order to provide diversion and step-down options for state hospital patients. In recent years, the state hospital census has averaged well above 85 percent, or optimal safe operating capacity. Identifying potential diversion opportunities with community hospitals has been a key focus of the agency in order to alleviate the state hospital census and place individuals in or nearer to their home communities.

Chesapeake Regional Healthcare is in the process of constructing a new, 20-bed inpatient psychiatric unit which will accept voluntary admissions as well as admissions under a temporary detention order, or TDO. These beds are anticipated to come online in February 2024. In order to identify how best to leverage these new beds to alleviate the state hospital census, DBHDS and Chesapeake have been in discussions to identify priority populations and develop cost avoidance estimates to the state, all of which is detailed in this report.