The Mississippi State Department of Health issued a Certificate of Need to allow Alliance Health Center in Meridian to convert four adolescent psychiatric beds to adult psychiatric beds.

The health department issued the certificate on July 29 and announced the decision in a news release on Tuesday.

Alliance will have a total of 50 adult psychiatric beds and 26 adolescent psychiatric beds in the behavioral health units at the hospital, according to the news release. The project is designed to meet the demand for adult psychiatric services without increasing the total number of beds at the hospital, according to the news release.

The total capital expenditure for the project is $5,000.