Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is calling for the construction of a new state mental health hospital in the panhandle region as part of his priorities going into the 88th legislative session, Amarillo Globe-News reported Dec. 6.
The exact location of the proposed hospital has not been decided. Additionally, Mr. Patrick called for adding beds at existing state hospitals and expanding telehealth programs to reach patients in rural Texas.
"If you're a sheriff in the Panhandle or somewhere in that area, you may have to drive as far as Wichita Falls to find a hospital bed for someone who has a mental health condition that you've arrested," Mr. Patrick told the Amarillo Globe-News. "Not that everyone that's going into the mental health care system has done anything criminally — those would be the forensic beds — but we need to add civil beds for the general population."