New NC budget proposes big cash infusion for Charlotte health clinic’s construction
The Katie Blessing Foundation for youth behavioral health could receive $17.7 million if lawmakers pass the long-awaited North Carolina General Assembly budget introduced Tuesday.
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Michael Estramonte, founder and CEO of StarMed Healthcare and Starmount Healthcare Management, founded Katie Blessing Center and has overseen its progression since the city voted to put $2.5 million into the project in 2024.
Phase one of the project’s development will wrap up by the fourth quarter of this year, said Anthony Trotman, CEO of the center. The money from the multi-million dollar grant will fund, and complete, phase two, he added. This $17.7 million covers more than a quarter of the total estimated cost of the project: $62.5 million. It will allow the center to develop its 24-bed psychiatric residential treatment facility. With 72 beds in total, the 70,000 square-foot facility will be the state’s largest dedicated to pediatric behavioral health care.
“We are incredibly grateful to the North Carolina General Assembly for partnering with us to expand this vision and ensure that more children and families receive the care they deserve,” Estramonte wrote in a statement to The Charlotte Observer.
The Katie Blessing Foundation pledged $20 million of its own money to the project, according to past reporting from the Observer. Over the past few years, it also secured millions from Mecklenburg County, the city of Charlotte, previous contributions from the state, and partners like Novant Health and Alliance Health, Trotman said.
When the Katie Blessing Center was first proposed, it came at a crossroads: the COVID-19 pandemic had lingering effects on mental health and juvenile crime was on the rise.
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The need for this type of facility continues today, Trotman said.
Although North Carolina rose in the ranks of access to mental health care — from 44th in 2024 to 38th in 2025 — it still falls in the bottom third of all states. There is a shortage of beds not just in the state but in the region, Trotman added.
“We have a problem in our state, but we also have a problem in the country as it relates to behavioral health services,” he said.
Leaders of the center are eyeing an early 2026 opening for its phase one projects: a 48-bed inpatient hospital and a behavioral health urgent care with eight observation chairs, both of which will serve children ages 5 to 17. Phase one will also include telehealth services and an outdoor courtyard.
Between now and then, construction and permitting continues.
Phase two, a three-story addition to the existing building, will take 12 to 18 months to complete and include an indoor gym and more therapy spaces in addition to the psychiatric residential treatment beds.
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The center expects to welcome its first patients in early 2027.
