MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala., – North Alabama Shoals Hospital has received approval from the State Health Planning and Development Agency (SHPDA) for a Certificate of Need (CON) to add two additional adult inpatient behavioral health beds, bringing the total planned expansion to eight additional beds. Once completed, this project will increase the hospital’s adult behavioral health capacity from 20 beds to 28 beds.

“This approval represents a significant step forward in strengthening behavioral health access in Northwest Alabama,” said Braxton Holloway, Chief Operating Officer of North Alabama Shoals Hospital. “Increasing our capacity to 28 adult behavioral health beds will allow us to care for more patients in crisis locally and help reduce the number of patients who must be transferred outside the Shoals. We were extremely intentional in planning this project—there will be no disruption to patient care throughout construction, and both behavioral health units will remain fully operational to ensure uninterrupted access for those who need us most.”

This CON approval advances the hospital’s broader behavioral health expansion project, which includes the renovation and relocation of existing adult and geriatric behavioral health units. The planning and architectural design phases have progressed over the past several months, but the final bed determination was a critical factor in sequencing construction.

“Our team has continued moving this project forward while awaiting SHPDA’s Certificate of Need Review Board decision because it directly impacts facility design and construction flow,” said Mike Howard, Market President & CEO of North Alabama Shoals Hospital and North Alabama Medical Center. “Now that approval for the full eight beds has been granted, we are finalizing plans with the goal of starting construction in early 2026. This expansion will allow more patients to receive timely, compassionate behavioral health care right here in our community—and keep families closer together during some of their most difficult moments.”

In June, North Alabama Shoals Hospital officially submitted a Certificate of Need (CON) application to proceed with a planned renovation, which is expected to be completed and operational by late 2025. The project will involve construction improvements in three areas, including the relocation of the hospital's two existing psychiatric units, while ensuring continuous patient care operations throughout the process.

The new psychiatric units are designed to meet the growing demand for mental health services in the region. These units will provide beds for local patients as well as transfer requests from hospitals across Alabama and neighboring states. With the expansion, the hospital will be able to better serve a broader range of patients through a comprehensive behavioral health service line that includes geriatric, adult, and soon, adolescent psychiatric units.

Currently, the nearest facility offering adolescent psychiatric beds is located in Decatur, Alabama, but that program is often at capacity and unable to meet the increasing demand for services. The addition of the adolescent psychiatric unit at North Alabama Shoals Hospital will provide much-needed resources and support for patients and their families, helping to address the gap in mental health care for adolescents in the region.