To meet the needs for adolescent behavioral health care in the region, Cape Fear Valley Health System plans to open its second 16-bed adolescent behavioral health center (ABHC) at its Central Harnett campus in Lillington early next year. 

The $8.4 million facility, primarily funded by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, will add critical capacity to North Carolina’s adolescent behavioral health system while reducing geographic barriers to care for families across the region. 

Based on the health system's successful Dorothea Dix Adolescent Care model currently operating in Fayetteville, this second ABHC will double the hospital’s capacity to treat youth experiencing a mental health crisis while keeping them closer to their families. 

“This is going to be a game changer for us,” said Scott Childers, executive director of the Harnett Health Foundation. 

The new center represents both a response to increasing demand for behavioral health services and a desire to bring care closer to home for families throughout the region, including military-connected families from nearby Fort Bragg. 

With a documented shortage of adolescent psychiatric beds across North Carolina, families often face extended wait times and must travel 70 miles or more to access appropriate care. 

“Our current unit has been so successful, there is a need for more beds,” said John Bigger, corporate director of Behavioral Health and Sleep Medicine at Cape Fear Valley Health. 

The facility’s proximity to Fort Bragg addresses particular challeng es faced by military families, especially when service members are deployed and spouses must manage children’s mental health crises independently. “There’s a strong need for easier travel times for families living in Harnett County and north of Fort Bragg,” Bigger said. 

Like its counterpart in Fayetteville, the Lillington facility will serve patients aged 12 to 17, providing psychiatric stabilization services with an average length of stay between five and seven days. 

The center will operate as a dedicated unit within Cape Fear Valley Health’s Central Harnett Hospital, and will be staffed by specialized personnel with experience in adolescent psychiatric and mental health care. Treatment protocols focus on comprehensive psychiatric and psychological assessments and evidence-based interventions de signed to stabilize patients with conditions such as depression, anxiety and mood disorders. 

Services include individual therapy, recreational therapy and medication management. A key feature of the program is “discharge planning is initiated from day one of admission,” Bigger said, ensuring patients receive the ongoing support they need after hospital discharge.

“The family system is imperative to work with to make sure they have that safety net and support systems in place,” Bigger added.

This ABHC project exemplifies the benefits of collaboration in developing healthcare infrastructure. Beyond the state funding for construction, the Harnett Health Foundation, under Executive Director Scott Childers, is raising $200,000 to equip the facility with state-of-the art equipment, including specialized safety furniture. 

The center also stays connect ed with a network of community partners, such as outpatient mental health providers and the regional managed care organization, Alliance Behavioral Health, to ensure continuity of care. 

“We appreciate the trust the com munity puts in us to serve. We appreciate the efforts that the hospital and community partners put in,” Bigger said. “We’re honored to be able to do this for our community. We’re all in on helping these children.”

The incoming adolescent care facility in Lillington is scheduled to begin operations in March 2026. Learn more about Cape Fear Valley Health’s adolescent behavioral health care services at www.capefearvalley.com/ services/adolescent-behavioral-health services.