How we got here
On Oct. 29, Pearland City Council voted unanimously to sign a letter of support to ask the state Legislature to allocate funding to build Brazoria County’s first mental health hospital.
Jim Johnson, president of the Pearland Chamber of Commerce, asked Pearland City Council to sign a letter of support for building a 115-bed mental health facility estimated to cost $115 million, according to city documents.
Currently, Brazoria County has no dedicated psychiatric inpatient beds, which has forced residents to seek care outside of the county or go without care, according to the letter.
To date, Alvin ISD, Pearland ISD, Alvin Community College, Memorial Hermann and HCA Houston Healthcare have already signed the letter, Johnson said.
The backstory
Through its Pearland Day in Austin, a stakeholder event including the city of Pearland and Pearland ISD, the chamber sent a delegation to the Texas Capitol ahead of the 88th Texas Legislature in 2023 to discuss the possibility of building a mental health hospital in Brazoria County, chamber board Chair Alexander Okwonna said.
The delegation was asked to return with data, which prompted the Pearland Chamber of Commerce to conduct a 19-month study of mental health in the county.
One highlight includes the demand for psychiatric services from county residents being expected to rise by 50% over the next decade, according to the study.
In their own words
“I’m a senior adviser to seniors in high school, and talking to them this year has brought to my mind constantly how fragile ... we are and how much something like this is needed,” council member Layni Cade said.
Mayor Kevin Cole said law enforcement and public safety workers could attest to the urgency of the mental health crisis in the county.
“In the various roles I’ve held in our community, I’ve seen this a lot,” council member Clint Byron said. “We would be remiss to say this is not one of the biggest challenges for our community.”
