Oceans Healthcare has opened a new behavioral health campus in Kenner, adding inpatient and outpatient psychiatric services to a New Orleans metro area that officials say has significant behavioral health needs. The facility, called Oceans Behavioral Hospital of Greater New Orleans – Kenner West, sits at 716 Village Road and offers inpatient care for adults and older adults alongside outpatient programming.
The Kenner West campus was previously operated as Perimeter Behavioral Hospital of New Orleans, according to Biz New Orleans. Before Oceans took it over, the Loyola Drive facility ran with 36 certified proprietary psychiatric beds, per Turquoise Health. Oceans Healthcare has begun implementing its own clinical, operational and quality processes at the site as it folds the campus into its regional network.
Company CEO Stuart Archer said Oceans Healthcare has continued to invest in communities needing high-quality behavioral healthcare services, framing the Kenner West opening as part of that broader commitment. The new campus strengthens Oceans Healthcare's behavioral health presence in southeast Louisiana and expands access to care in the New Orleans metropolitan area, the company says.
A Statewide Access Gap Behind the Expansion
The opening lands in a state where the need for psychiatric care far outstrips available treatment. Federal data from SAMHSA shows 61.8% of adults living with mental illness in Louisiana receive no treatment at all, ranking the state 42nd nationwide for mental health service access. Separate figures from NAMI Louisiana put the scale of that need in stark terms: more than 715,000 adults in the state, roughly 22% of the adult population, live with a mental health condition, and 5.4% experience severe mental illness.
Oceans Healthcare already operated an 82-bed hospital elsewhere in Kenner at 716 Village Road, which recorded 2,399 patient discharges during recent federal reporting periods, according to the American Hospital Directory. The company also runs Louisiana Behavioral Health in Shreveport through a partnership with Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport. With the Kenner West campus added to the roster, Oceans Behavioral Hospital of Greater New Orleans now operates five locations.
Rapid Growth Across a Multi-State Network
The Kenner West acquisition fits a pattern of steady regional buildout for the Plano, Texas–based company. Founded in 2004, Oceans Healthcare has grown by 300% since 2014 and now runs 48 facilities across nine states, largely through acquisitions and partnerships with regional health systems, according to Becker's Behavioral Health. In the Greater New Orleans area specifically, the company added its Bellemeade campus in Gretna back in March 2021, joining existing locations in Marrero and Kenner, the outlet's reporting on the deal shows.
That partnership model extends beyond New Orleans. In June, Oceans Healthcare and Ochsner Lafayette General opened Ochsner Behavioral Health Acadiana, a 62-bed hospital in Lafayette serving adolescent, adult and geriatric patients. Looking ahead, Oceans plans to open a 66-bed Oceans Behavioral Hospital – Northshore in Lacombe in 2027, built within the Ochsner Northshore Medical Complex to serve the Northshore and Florida Parishes region.
Specialized Programs and Federal Attention
Beyond general adult psychiatric care, Oceans Healthcare facilities in Greater New Orleans offer specialized programming such as the STAR Military Program, designed for active-duty service members, veterans and military families dealing with post-traumatic stress and operational combat stress, according to Recovery.com. The company's leadership has also weighed in on the broader crisis driving demand for facilities like Kenner West. Archer, who became CEO in November 2014, testified before a U.S. House Energy and Commerce subcommittee in March 2023 about post-pandemic clinical staffing shortages and the emergency department boarding crisis facing mental health patients nationwide.
Oceans Healthcare now counts 21 locations across Louisiana, part of a footprint the company has built through a mix of acquisitions like Kenner West and joint ventures with major health systems. For the New Orleans metro area, the addition of inpatient and outpatient beds at the Kenner West campus represents one more attempt to chip away at a treatment gap that state and national data suggest remains stubbornly wide.
