The state is looking into the possibility of adding more hospital beds for acute psychiatric care, but one mental health advocate says that may only be a quick fix.

Clarice Hausch, director of West Virginia Advocates, said Friday that the state could ease its crowded psychiatric hospitals in the long term by devoting more resources to outpatient care.

Hausch was reacting to a letter from the attorney general's office obtained by The Associated Press Friday. It outlines several possible options for easing overcrowding at Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital in Huntington and William R. Sharpe Hospital in Weston.

One of those options is the creation of a 148-bed psychiatric care hospital in Beckley. The letter says Appalachian Regional Hospital is currently preparing a certificate of need application for that.

State health department spokesman John Law said the state is considering a range of options but hasn't committed to any one approach yet.