WICHITA FALLS ( KFDX/KJTL ) — After years of planning, city and state officials broke ground on the new North Texas State Hospital.

Called an “unprecedented investment” by Texas Health and Human Services officials, the new inpatient psychiatric hospital will include 200 beds, individualized living areas, maximum security and more.

“They need things that they can take part of and feel valued and feel like they are contributing to something beyond just the medical model of recovery,” HHS Associate Commissioner of State Hospitals Kristy Carr said.

On Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, city and state officials broke ground on the state hospital’s $452 million replacement facility.

For Texoma Representative James Frank, an advocate for upped healthcare, it’s a chance to implement top-notch treatment.

“We’re trying to make sure the best and the most current treatment opportunities are here,” Frank said. “The facility, which would be much more like a freestanding hospital, is currently what everybody believes is the best way to take care of mental health patients.”

And for hospital officials like Carr, amenities like 200 beds and individualized spaces allow for speedy recovery.

“This very much modernizes our ability to serve patients,” Carr said. “We’re incorporating a lot of natural light, art or music therapy, sensory rooms.”

It’s all part of a $2.5 billion investment by legislators in 2017, which aims to improve state hospitals throughout the Lone Star State.

“It truly is an investment to people gaining mental health services,” Carr said. “When you talk about being a leader within the nation, this is certainly going to help us be one step closer to making Texas have a better footprint.”

Improving workers’ and patients’ wellbeing.

“Four hundred and fifty million is by far the biggest appropriation I’ve ever been involved in,” Frank said. “Buildings don’t heal people. People do. And the workers out here are the ones that really do the work; let’s just give them a little better building to do it in.”

Construction is expected to last three years, with completion slated for 2027.

Thanks for signing up!

Watch for us in your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Daily News

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Texomashomepage.com.