AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) – Texas A&M University regents unanimously agreed to a land swap to begin construction for a new mental health hospital in Amarillo.
The overall goal is to provide workforce development for students at West Texas A&M wanting to specialize in mental health services, as well as meet mental health needs that have not been accessible to Panhandle residents.
As of now, patients have to be transferred to Wichita Falls or farther with wait times as long as two years.
“Patients no longer have to wait for a bed to up in Wichita Falls. They can go straight from the pavilion or straight from their homes, straight to the hospital we are going to have here,” said Potter County Judge Nancy Tanner.
According to West A&M President Walter Wendler, the land previously occupied by Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, was exchanged for the downtown bus station, which will undergo renovations to provide nursing students with advanced training with mental health options.
Texas Human and Health Services will provide 75 beds to the hospital with 50 of those used for jailed individuals who have been deemed criminally insane.
“There’s a lot of people out there who have mental health problems, and so we can transfer them to that hospital and get them the treatment they need. Then they can go to trial, get out of jail quicker. That’s the dream anyway, so to get them out of our jail cause our jail is almost full,” said Judge Tanner.
The facility is expected to break ground in late summer and open fall of 2027.
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