A Canberra mental health unit will be able to treat more patients following a 14-bed expansion of the Hyson Green unit.
The new beds will open for patients from next Monday.
The Hyson Green unit is part of Calvary Bruce Private Hospital and is a voluntary facility. It mainly supports people with mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression and PTSD.
The expansion will increase the unit's inpatient capacity to 45 but the entire facility can take up to 65 people at any one time when day patients are included.
The expansion includes bedrooms, day treatment rooms, communal spaces and a gym.
Calvary Bruce Private Hospital general manager Cherie Townsend highlighted the gym as an important part of the expansion and said the unit would also employ an exercise physiologist to help with patient care.
The expansion will also allow day patients to access the facility again. This used to occur before the COVID pandemic.
The day program prioritised those who had previously been admitted, Ms Townsend said.
"It means they don't have to be readmitted unnecessarily," she said.
"Essentially, what we would be doing is targeting people to come back in and help them to support them to transition back into the community."
Ms Townsend said the unit used a triage process for admitting patients.
She said patients were assessed on an individual basis about whether admission was needed.
"We're a voluntary facility so it means that people have to come in here on their own terms," she said.
"They establish their own goals of care and identify what they would like to achieve."
Katie Tonacia will be a consumer representative for the unit.
She has previously been an inpatient and is the chief executive of Picking Up The Peaces - an organisation which supports people with PTSD.
"From someone with a lived experience of caring for a loved one with chronic PTSD, anxiety and depression who has required multiple admissions, this new expansion can only enrich the care environment, making it even more effective, and responsive to people needing mental healthcare and support," she said.
- Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; Mensline 1300 789 978; Kids Helpline 1800 551 800; beyondblue 1300 224 636; 1800-RESPECT 1800 737 732.
