County health and human services staff told supervisors May 20 that Columbia Memorial Health (CMH) has received state funding to expand inpatient psychiatric capacity by roughly 20 beds, and staff said they support the expansion while raising concerns about discharge planning and county service capacity.

The county representative said CMH won a multi‑million dollar award from the New York State Office of Mental Health to expand its psychiatric unit, increasing adult beds on the Fifth Floor and converting medical-surgery beds on the Second Floor into geriatric psychiatric beds. The planned conversion would add about 12 beds for older adults with co-occurring medical and psychiatric needs, the presenter said.

County staff supported the hospital’s efforts to use space now underused for medical-surgery care, but stressed that the expanded inpatient capacity could attract patients from other regional hospitals — for example, centers in Albany and Saratoga — and that those out‑of‑area patients must be returned to their county of origin or discharged appropriately. "What I hope doesn't happen is that those residents linger here," the presenter said, stressing concerns about strains on the local continuum of care when patients with complex needs have no safe discharge options.

Supervisors asked about average lengths of stay in inpatient psychiatric settings, and staff said typical stays are driven by medical necessity but often fall in a two‑to‑three‑week range; some cases extend longer. County officials said they have asked the hospital to keep discharge planning and return‑to‑county processes robust to avoid placing long‑term caseload burdens on local social services and housing systems.

Why it matters: the expansion increases local capacity and may shorten inpatient travel for county residents, but officials said it also raises risks that nonresident high‑acuity patients could use limited local resources if discharge and return‑to‑home processes are not enforced.

County staff said they will continue to engage the hospital and the state Office of Mental Health to monitor bed use, discharge outcomes and impacts on the county’s social‑services systems.