Fairbanks residential mental health center to add six rooms with $1.95 million federal grant

Alaska Behavioral Health will add six private resident rooms to Tamarack Living Center, its residential mental health treatment center in Fairbanks, with a $1.95 million federal grant.

The money is congressionally directed spending requested by Sen. Lisa Murkowski and administered by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration. The federal award record says the addition is meant to meet local demand for structured residential behavioral health care in Interior Alaska. Alaska Behavioral Health has said Tamarack, on Hilton Avenue, serves up to 10 adults.

The plan calls for a 5,709-square-foot addition with a covered patio. Each new room will have its own bathroom, and the addition will also include a commercial kitchen, dining and gathering spaces, offices and laundry. The building is designed for subarctic conditions.

The project is estimated to cost about $3.06 million. The federal grant covers about 64% of that, leaving roughly $1.1 million to come from other sources. The grant pays for eligible construction, site work and fixed equipment, and its funding period runs from Sept. 30, 2026, through Sept. 29, 2029.

The grant went to Anchorage Community Mental Health Services Inc., which does business as Alaska Behavioral Health. The provider began adult residential treatment at Tamarack on Nov. 22, 2021, according to its open house announcement. Alaska News previously covered Alaska Behavioral Health and JAMHI Health & Wellness in Juneau as the two providers Alaska certified during the planning phase of a federal Medicaid demonstration for community behavioral health clinics.

Fairbanks is also getting a second behavioral health construction award through the same program. The Greater Fairbanks Community Hospital Foundation received $3 million, also requested by Murkowski, to renovate about 9,418 square feet at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital and create a new inpatient behavioral health unit for adolescents. The state Department of Health approved a certificate of need for the hospital's $6.2 million project, which includes a four-bed adolescent unit.