Construction Begins on New $600 Million Texas Hospital

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that a new $573 million Terrell State Hospital will be constructed to provide inpatient psychiatric care to North Texans.

The 415,000-square-foot replacement hospital will have 275 beds – 175 of which will be non-maximum security, 50 maximum security, and 50 adolescent. According to an official release from Abbott’s office on Wednesday, adult and adolescent patients will have separate living areas, and the maximum-security unit will include strict measures “to ensure the safety of patients, staff, and the community.”

“This groundbreaking ceremony for the new state hospital in Terrell is a step forward in Texas’ ongoing efforts to expand and modernize state facilities that offer behavioral health treatment to Texans,” Abbott said. “Since 2017, Texas has provided more than $2.5 billion to build, renovate, and improve our state hospitals to ensure that Texans in every corner of our state have access to the quality inpatient psychiatric care they deserve.”

“Texans are better served when they have access to health care closer to home, and that is why state leaders and HHSC have invested in facilities like the Terrell State Hospital,” said Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Cecile Erwin Young.

“When completed, this hospital will offer hope, healing, and recovery for some of the most vulnerable people in North Texas.”

Construction on the new hospital is slated for completion late 2027.

Newsweek has contacted Abbott’s office for comment via email outside of standard working hours.

The original Terrell State Hospital first opened its doors nearly 140 years ago in 1885 and today serves 31 counties.

The redevelopment is part of a wider push by Texas legislators to upgrade health infrastructure across the Lone Star State.

Lawmakers say over $2.5 billion has been put aside since 2017 for the replacement, renovation, or expansion of state hospitals – with construction scheduled to begin later this year for a replacement hospital in Wichita Falls, as well as new hospitals in Amarillo and Lubbock.

Newsweek has previously mapped which U.S. states have the best healthcare systems according to a study conducted by WalletHub. Texas ranked among the bottom 10.

Earlier this year, Newsweek revealed its sixth annual ranking for the top 250 hospitals globally, in collaboration with Statista, with four of the top five located in the United States.

These were the Mayo Clinic, the Cleveland Clinic, The John Hopkins Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Two Texas hospitals also featured on the list of 250 – Houston Methodist Hospital claimed the 93^rd spot and UT Southwestern Medical Center ranked 243^rd.

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