House budget proposal includes funding for Catawba Hospital expansion

RICHMOND, Va. (WDBJ) - Budget amendments approved by the House Appropriations Committee include funding for the plan to expand Catawba Hospital. It’s not the $147 million that Del. Sam Rasoul (D-11) requested, but $14.7 million to get the project started.

The proposal would create a state-of-the-art campus to provide treatment for substance use disorder, in addition to the behavioral health care the Roanoke County facility already provides.

Legislation authorizing the project continues to advance in the General Assembly. Rasoul urged members of the House to support the project during comments on the House floor Monday afternoon.

“And in that recommendation, we would integrate residential treatment beds for the first time in the history of the Commonwealth,” Rasoul told members of the House. “We would have outpatient services. We could even use this for crisis receiving centers and a crisis receiving unit. But in addition to that, Mr. Speaker, we could have behavioral health workforce training and research and development that could be cutting edge.”

Rasoul’s fight for funding isn’t over.

He will be working behind the scenes to make sure the Catawba project is included in the final budget that lawmakers hope to approve before adjourning at the end of the month.

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