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House Votes Funds to Construct New API
HB 76 Opens Way for Long-Needed Psychiatric Hospital

(JUNEAU) - The House unanimously passed legislation today to provide funding to build a replacement for the aging Alaska Psychiatric Institute (API).

House Bill 76, sponsored by Rep. Norman Rokeberg (R-Anchorage), would authorize the state to issue certificates of participation, financial instruments similar to bonds, to raise $16 million toward the $41.7 million cost of replacing the 39-year old psychiatric hospital.

"Alaska has a responsibility to provide for its residents' health, including mental health," said Rokeberg. "It's been clear for years that we've needed a new facility to replace API, and the financial resources provided by this bill, combined with the cooperation demonstrated by all the parties involved, are combining to finally make it a reality."

Built in 1962, API does not meet current building or safety codes, and contains cancer-causing asbestos. As the facility cannot legally turn away civilly committed patients, or those sent by the courts for evaluation, it has a chronic problem with overcrowding. Efforts to rebuild or replace the facility, including a recent effort to buy and renovate a nearby private hospital, have been unsuccessful.

The $16 million generated by passage of HB 76 would be added to $19.2 million remaining from previous legislative appropriations for API. The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, which has committed $3 million to the project, also donated the land on which it will be built. The remainder of the money will come from investment earnings on these funds, Rokeberg said.

Under HB 76, the new API would again include a 10-bed forensic psychiatric unit, which would allow the hospital to boost the level of services available to Alaskans under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections.

The bill also incorporates a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, the Department of Health and Social Services, the University of Alaska, and Providence Alaska Medical Center, which are either involved in providing medical and mental health services, or which have current facilities near the current API site. The agreement establishes the framework for land exchanges and other commitments that will facilitate replacement of API.

Rokeberg credited Rep. Eldon Mulder (R-Anchorage), co-chair of the House Finance Committee, with working with the MOU signatories to win agreement on the land exchanges, and with identifying certificates of participation as a funding mechanism that would provide the financing necessary to replace API.

HB 76 moves next to the Senate for consideration.

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