WakeMed Health broke ground on a new health campus with a focus on mental health in Garner.
Construction of a 150-bed WakeMed mental health hospital connected to a 45-bed acute care hospital began Thursday. The site is located near White Oak Crossing, at the intersection of Timber Drive East and White Oak Road.
Gov. Josh Stein joined hospital executives for the groundbreaking.
“This is going to serve everybody. Whether you’re an adult, whether you’re old, whether you’re young – if you need health care, you’re going to be able to come here and get the care that you need,” Stein told WRAL News.
He continued, “What’s great is you may have both a physical problem and a mental health problem – you don’t have to go to two different places. You can walk in a single door, and you can get treated here.”
Stein pointed to Wake County’s growing population as a reason for more health care options in Garner.
U.S. Census Bureau data rated Garner among the fastest-growing municipalities nationwide between 2023-2024.
WakeMed sees an average of 1,200 mental health patients monthly in its emergency departments; about 400 require inpatient care. Beds are available for only half, typically after a two-day wait.
WakeMed Health and Hospitals CEO Donald Gintzig said the lack of bed space, “puts stress on the whole system.”
“What we’ve tried to do over the last seven to eight years is create a coordinated, community-based, ambulatory care network to leverage so many resources and bring them together,” Gintzig said during the groundbreaking ceremony.
Dr. Micah Krempasky, Chief Medical Officer for Mental Health and Wellbeing at WakeMed, explained that the mental health crisis has intensified in recent years.
“It’s incredibly heartbreaking. You see people come in, you see the human suffering, and you know there is treatment available and things you can do, but there’s just not space,” Krempasky said.
WakeMed Health’s new campus Garner aims to change that.
“In terms of health care, we often separate physical health from mental health. The mental health hospital will be on one area; the physical health hospital will be somewhere else – but we recognize the illnesses don’t come that way. We are putting them together on one campus and building an area where people are happy to come,” Krempasky explained.
The goal is to integrate the campus into the community to encourage patients to think of mental health as they would any other illness.
“It’s just a part of the community. It’s not somewhere that’s stigmatized and tucked away, but rather an integral part of our daily lives,” Krempasky said. “Our vision is to create somewhere people are proud to go.”
The health campus will emphasize “trauma-informed care” and include programs to support the whole family.
Stein shared that the effort to expand care in Garner is one he supports, but noted patients also need to be able to afford it.
“WakeMed, they accept Medicaid. If the legislature does not address the Medicaid funding gap, they are not going to get paid the cost it takes to provide the care,” Stein stated. “That’s unsustainable for the health care system here and it’s unsustainable for the health care system statewide.”
The community has supported WakeMed’s efforts through a $50 million Courage to Confront Crisis campaign, spearheaded by the WakeMed Foundation.
WakeMed Foundation Vice President Hank Woods told WRAL News, community members have already donated over $32 million since its launch in April 2024.
“We have been amazed by how many people have been touched by mental health,” Woods stated. “It’s really been at times heartbreaking and yet heartwarming. Everyone has a story.”
The foundation began in 1994. Funding over the years has supported WakeMed employees’ pursuits of higher education and the construction of the WakeMed Children’s Hospital in Raleigh.
The Courage to Confront Crisis campaign is the largest campaign the foundation has ever taken on.
“I think the common themes we’ve heard from folks is how massive a situation and problem that we’re trying to address is,” Woods told WRAL. “There have been meetings that we’ve left pretty much in tears and yet uplifted because these people have turned around from a very deep and serious issue and invested in other members of the community get the help and healing they need.”
The majority of the $50 million will be used to support construction of the Garner campus, with additional funding going toward “programmatic activities” through the hospital, according to Woods.
“This is an issue that does not discriminate across class lines or any other lines,” Woods added. “My dream is we will have given people a path to get the help that they need.”
The mental health campus comes after WakeMed opened WakeBrook in partnership with Wake County. The 28-bed inpatient psychiatric unit has helped the system improve its approach to behavioral health care.
“That has been open for a little over a year. We feel so honored to provide this service for our county,” Krempasky said. “In that past year we have really been able to do things the WakeMed way and make sure care is available to everyone.”
WakeBrook treatment includes a large focus on outdoor activity and exercise, something Krempasky shared will continue in the new WakeMed campus in Garner.
Construction is anticipated to be completed in summer 2028.
If you’re having suicidal thoughts or a mental health crisis, call or text 988 or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.
Veterans can press “1” after dialing 988 to connect directly to the Veterans Crisis Lifeline. For texts, veterans should continue to text the Veterans Crisis Lifeline short code: 838255.