Saint Patrick Hospital is saying thank you to the U.S. Congress, and on Tuesday hospital officials were able to thank Representative Denny Rehberg in person.

The hospital is renovating its emergency department, but wanted to include new facilities for secure mental health care. Rehberg was able to get $150,000 for the hospital. Joel Lankford with St. Pats says that money will pay for two emergency mental health beds.

"It's just going to be a lot better environment, both for visitors, for other patients, for mental health patients, and also for our staff. The quality of care is going to be improved, and we're really looking forward to finishing the project."

Rep. Rehberg: "One of the things I've spent a lot of time thinking about lately is the mental health of our Veterans returning from Iraq, Afghanistan. We've learned a lot of lessons. But there's a lot of other mental health needs that are going on in the state of Montana and round the country as well. It's a place where Congress can play a role."

Saint Pat's emergency department had some 24,000 visits last year -- more than double the amount it was designed to handle.

In another ten years that number is expected to reach 33,000.