On Friday, March 25, Cape Fear Valley Health will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony and self-guided tours for the new Dorothea Dix Adolescent Care Unit. 

The facility is located at 3425-B Melrose Road in Fayetteville.

The facility will house 16 inpatient beds for adolescents ages 12-17 and provide acute inpatient behavioral health care with around-the-clock staff with at least one psychiatrist and four psychiatry residents present. 

"In North Carolina, 84 of our 100 counties are considered mental health professional shortage areas," said Cape Fear Valley Health CEO Michael Nagowski. "In 64 out of 100 counties, there isn't even a practicing child psychiatrist. While we know this building and these services will be a welcome resource in our community, we also believe the programs made possible by this facility will help ease the psychiatrist shortage in the state through our psychiatry residency and fellowship programs, which will train new behavioral health doctors right here in Cumberland County."

Psychiatrist Sree Jadapalle, M.D. will serve as the service director at the new facility and the fellowship program director for a new Child Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship that begins in the summer. 

Jadapalle said the fellowship program helps provide psychiatric services to many community centers beyond Dorothea Dix Adolescent Care.

"This is now the only adolescent inpatient psychiatry unit, not only for Cumberland County, but also for surrounding communities like Bladen County, Hoke County, and Fort Bragg," Jadapalle stated. “We have pediatric patients waiting in our emergency room right now who have been waiting for a week or more for a bed to open up at such a facility. When this unit opens, it will alleviate these frustrating wait times for adolescents and their families and offer them the mental health help they need on time. After patients are discharged from the Dorothea Dix Adolescent Care unit, we will be able to provide continuity of care services through our Child and Adolescents Psychiatry Fellowship Clinic.”

Construction on the new unit began in November 2020 and was possible through $4M in funding from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and contributions from the community.

"Over $71,000 has been contributed by individuals and corporations, which will amplify state funding and provide necessary program support, appropriate furnishings, clinical equipment, and recreational services for adolescents in our community needing inpatient behavioral health services," said Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation Vice President Sabrina Brooks. "We are grateful to these community donors for their generosity and support. Giving opportunities to support the unit are still available through Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation."