CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – North Carolina health regulators are considering a request from a private health company to build a psychiatric hospital in Charlotte.

Pine Grove BH Services LLC applied to build a 120-bed mental health facility that would cost nearly $55.5 million. Developers said the Pinewood Behavioral Health Hospital could open as soon as January 2026.

Company officials filed a certificate of need application to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. The Certificate of Need law prevents healthcare providers from building more facilities or adding onto existing facilities without DHHS approval.

The hospital would have care options for children, adolescents, and adults.

Demand for in-patient psychiatric care shot up during the pandemic and mental health facilities have not been able to keep up, according to new federal data. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported in 2021, hospitals and clinics that treat psychiatric patients used on average 144% of the designated bed space. The statistic shows clinicians are seeing more patients than their facilities were designed to handle.