Colonial Behavioral Health has secured $2 million from Congress to push forward plans for a new integrated healthcare campus in James City County.
The funding comes from the federal Community Project Funding, a budget mechanism to allow representatives to direct money to local efforts in their districts. Colonial’s funding was directed by Rep. Rob Wittman and signed into law in November as part of a federal spending package.
The money will not pay for construction itself. Instead, it will cover pre-development work such as architectural design, site planning, floor plans and land-use approvals, said David Coe, executive director of Colonial Behavioral Health.
“When you're raising funds for building projects, that’s the hardest money to get,” Coe said.
Colonial Behavioral Health acts as the Historic Triangle's Community Services Board, a public agency created under Virginia law to provide mental health, substance use and developmental disability services in Williamsburg, James City County, York County and Poquoson.
It currently serves around 4,000 people each year. Once the new campus opens, Coe said that number could grow to roughly 7,000.
The organization currently operates seven office locations across the historic triangle. Coe said the funds will be a “a really good start” to consolidate outpatient psychiatric services, case management and more intensive treatment programs into a single campus.
The new facility would also include primary care, dental services and an on-site pharmacy under one roof.
The campus will be located near Eastern State Hospital, on land made available by the state. A separate crisis services center is already under construction nearby with the funding from the former Gov. Glenn Youngkin's Right Help, Right Now initiative.
Coe said the integrated model is designed to expand access and encourage earlier intervention. Someone seeing a primary care doctor for stress or physical symptoms could be connected to behavioral health support before leaving the building.
“We believe there will be people accessing behavioral health services that would not ordinarily do so,” he said.
While the funding will cover early planning costs, Coe said the full project will require “significantly more than $2 million.” The construction timeline will depend on how quickly additional dollars can be raised.
