The first phase of renovations is underway, said Doyle, and was funded by the Texas Legislature, which approved $8 million last legislative session for the project.
UTHealth is seeking $12 million in the current legislative session to complete a second set of renovations.
The details
Phase one of renovations on the 38-year-old building includes updates to:
- The exterior of the building
- Exterior courtyards
- Boiler replacements
- Elevator replacements
Doyle said the second phase of renovations would add more capacity to the building and make additional infrastructure improvements to the heating, ventilation and air conditioning.
The second phase of renovations would also update 12 inpatient units containing 20-24 beds each, Doyle said, and UTHealth would like to turn support departments like finance into patient-facing spaces.
“We'd like to utilize all the square footage within that building to be able to take care of patients,” Doyle said.
The background
Doyle said there’s been a “dramatic increase” since the COVID-19 pandemic in the need for psychiatric care, not only in Houston, but nationally as well. There are usually 60-80 people on a waiting list for the 538-bed campus, 274 of which are in the HCPC, Doyle said.
“These are ... patients that are in the emergency departments of all of the outlying hospitals waiting for an inpatient behavioral health bed to open,” Doyle said.
According to its website, the HCPC treats 9,000 patients a year for mental health issues like bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia and behavioral disorders.
