New Skilled Nursing Facility Planned at State Hospital South

(KLIX) – Construction of a new nursing facility will begin next week at State Hospital South in eastern Idaho.

The groundbreaking will take place on the morning of May 8 for the $35 million Syringa Chalet Nursing Facility in Blackfoot, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

“The nursing home serves as a safety net for the residents, many of whom can’t be treated in other nursing homes around the state and cannot return to their communities,” Jim Price, administrator for State Hospital South, said in a statement. “The new facility will be safer and have more capacity as it also preserves a feeling of home for our residents, who are mentally ill and gravely disabled and require skilled nursing care.”

The department said that when completed in July 2020, it will be licensed and accredited for 36 to 42 beds but will have the capacity to increase to 59 beds. The current facility can handle 29 residents.

The Idaho Legislature passed a resolution in 2018 that authorized the department to enter into an agreement with the Idaho State Building Authority to obtain bond financing for the nursing home.