New State Psychiatric Hospital to Expand Mental Health Treatment Options for Michiganders 

On Monday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer unveiled a new $85 million psychiatric hospital in Caro. State officials said the facility will go a long way in improving mental health treatment in Michigan.

MICHIGAN—A new state psychiatric hospital in Caro will offer more options for Michigan families in need of inpatient, behavioral health care, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Monday.

State and local officials joined Whitmer on-site in Caro to commemorate the completion of the new 100-bed Caro Psychiatric Hospital, a 130,000 square-foot, in-patient, mental health treatment center to replace the former Caro Center, one of the state’s five psychiatric hospitals. 

“Ensuring Michiganders have access to vital physical and mental health resources are key focuses of my administration,” Whitmer said in a statement Monday afternoon. 

The Caro Center, which was constructed in 1913, opened in 1914 as the Caro Farm Colony for Epileptics and served as the only state residential treatment center for those with seizure disorders until 1997. The $85 million replacement features four separate “downtown-themed” patient units—mostly single-bed suites with private bathrooms—and plenty of outdoor space.

Officials said each of the units are decorated with “therapeutic colors” to reflect seasonal color schemes. The “downtown-themed” location also offers patients access to an on-site hair care salon, exercise room, greenhouse, recreation room, and gymnasium with space for events. 

Elizabeth Hertel, director of the state Department of Health and Human Services, said the hospital will help meet the needs of Michigan families from across the state for years to come.

“The hospital’s unique downtown area, beautiful outdoor recreation spaces and modernized treatment and therapy spaces will help to positively impact patient outcomes, and patient and family satisfaction,” Hertel said in a statement on Monday afternoon. 

Michigan now has a total of five residential psychiatric hospitals that serve about 650 patients. In addition to the new hospital in Caro, it also operates the Kalamazoo and Walter Reuther psychiatric hospitals, the Hawthorn Center, and the Center for Forensic Psychiatry.

In February, Whitmer announced that another new state psychiatric hospital will be built in Northville at the current site of the Hawthorn Center. Once that facility is finished in 2026, it will care for nearly 200 patients who are currently being served at two other state hospitals.