State Leaders Provide Update on State Mental Health Hospital in Amarillo

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, [email protected]

AMARILLO, Texas - State officials gave updates on a land lease deal that will bring a much-needed mental health hospital to Amarillo.

Rep. Four Price, R-Amarillo, announced the completion of a land lease between Texas Health and Human Services Commission and The Texas A&M University System that will provide a location for the new 75-bed Panhandle State Hospital in Amarillo.

"Our region has desperately needed a state hospital for many years, yet multiple challenges stood in the way," Price said. "With those challenges now successfully addressed, it's gratifying to see a new state facility being built here in Amarillo to serve the Texas Panhandle. I'm extremely grateful to my legislative colleagues, local leaders and The Texas A&M University System, including West Texas A&M University, whose collective hard work brought us to this point."

The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents unanimously approved a deal in May which would lease a 10-acre tract of land the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory formerly occupied at 6610 W. Amarillo Blvd. before it moved its lab to the West Texas A&M University campus.

"The land lease is an example of how state agencies can and should work together for the good of citizens," West Texas A&M University President Walter V. Wendler said. "This deal represents an ideal vertical cooperation between government agencies starting with the Governor, Texas Health and Human Services Commission, The Texas A&M University System, the City of Amarillo, and West Texas A&M University."

TVDML is leasing the Amarillo site for $1 a year to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to construct the mental hospital. HHSC plans to break ground on the hospital late this summer and begin admitting patients in fall 2027.

The 88th Texas Legislature provided $159 million to build the hospital but directed the Health and Human Services Commission to work with local stakeholders to find the land for it.

The WTAMU Foundation has raised $750,000 to purchase the bus terminal adjacent to Harrington Academic Hall WTAMU Amarillo Center, 720 S. Tyler St. The University also worked with the city of Amarillo and the Amarillo Economic Development Corp. to assist in using the property to further expand WT's Laura and Joe Street School of Nursing.

Ultimately, the net effect is a swap: TAMUS received $1.3 million for WT in exchange for entering the land-lease deal with HHSC. WT will use that money to expand its footprint in downtown Amarillo, enabling the University to strengthen its nursing programs in behavioral health and provide a trained workforce for the new hospital, addressing health needs across the region and state.

"The real bottom line here is that Amarillo and the rest of the Panhandle get the mental health care the region needs, but never had," TAMUS Chancellor John Sharp said.

Other speakers at the press conference-held at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and Research Building, 6500 W. Amarillo Blvd.-were scheduled to include Texas state Sen. Kevin Sparks (R-Midland); and Scott Schalchlin, deputy executive commissioner for the HHSC Health and Specialty Care System.

Serving the Texas Panhandle is the primary maxim of the University's long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

That plan is fueled by the historic One West comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached its initial $125 million goal 18 months after publicly launching in September 2021. The campaign's new goal is to reach $175 million by 2025; currently, it has raised nearly $160 million.

About West Texas A&M University

WT, a Regional Research University, is redefining excellence in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus, as well as the Harrington Academic Hall WTAMU Amarillo Center in downtown Amarillo. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of more than 9,000 and offers 58 undergraduate degree programs, one associate degree, and 44 graduate degrees, including an integrated bachelor's and master's degree, a specialist degree and two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest's finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 14 men's and women's athletics programs.

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