Amarillo breaks ground on psychiatric hospital, part of the state’s $1.5B investment in mental health

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LUBBOCK — State officials broke ground Tuesday at the site of the future psychiatric hospital in Amarillo, bringing the Panhandle one step closer to inpatient mental health care.

The hospital is the long-awaited result after the Texas Legislature in 2023 approved $159 million to build an inpatient psychiatric hospital in Amarillo. Mental health advocates in the area say it is desperately needed to bring mental health resources closer to the largely rural region that’s home to nearly 436,000 people.

Now, as construction begins, local mental health officials are relieved there will finally be a safe haven in reach for the Panhandle.

“It’s a big deal to get this hospital here,” said Potter County Judge Nancy Tanner. “Hopefully, this will benefit our whole community as soon as it opens.”

The hospital in Amarillo is one of seven new state psychiatric hospital projects by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Lawmakers approved spending $1.5 billion in 2023 for the projects, including a psychiatric hospital being built in Lubbock, about 120 miles south of Amarillo.

Until these hospitals open, the nearest psychiatric hospital for most people in the region is Wichita Falls, more than 200 miles away from either Amarillo or Lubbock.

Once the projects are complete, the two most populated cities in the High Plains — the region that stretches from Lubbock to the tip of the Panhandle — will each have a hospital.

In a news release, Gov. Greg Abbott said the hospital — the first of its kind in the region — will provide Texans greater access to mental health professionals and quality care.

“Texas is delivering on its promise to expand healthcare to rural communities across our great state,” Abbott said.

The hospital will have 75 beds for patients. Fifty beds will be saved for people in the criminal justice system who have mental health disorders, including those who may be deemed unfit to stand trial.

The new hospital will be in Amarillo’s medical district. It will be located at the former Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory. The city, Texas A&M University System, and the state health agency worked together to find the location. The state is leasing the land for $1 a year.

“The land lease is an example of how state agencies can and should work together for the good of citizens,” said West Texas A&M President Walter Wendler during a news conference last year.

There are local outpatient resources available in Amarillo, a city of more than 200,000 people. However, inpatient care is essentially nonexistent. Dan Thompson with the Texas Panhandle Centers, the local mental health authority for the 21 upper counties, said it will be helpful for residents, law enforcement, and mental health organizations to have a facility nearby.

“A lot of folks in the Panhandle see that there is a need for people to get treatment and the help they need,” Thompson said. “To have something like this in our community is going to be very beneficial.”

The hospital, which will include common areas and outdoor courtyards for patients, will be operated by the state. The Health and Human Services agency owns and operates nine state hospitals around Texas and one residential youth treatment center. Cecile Erwin Young, executive commissioner for Health and Human Services, said Texans are better served when they can get treatment close to home.

“When completed, this hospital will offer hope and healing to some of the most vulnerable people in the Panhandle,” Young said.

Construction for the hospital is expected to finish in 2027.

Disclosure: Texas A&M University and Texas A&M University System have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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