An air and capacity upgrade is on the way for the Dallas County mental health agency known as MetroCare.
A brand new campus on Westmoreland Road near I-30 will replace a psychiatric hospital built in the 1940s.
A blue fence surrounds the site where the demolition took place and construction is in progress.
Dallas County Commissioner Elba Garcia who represents the district said the new, world-class facility will expand behavioral health care for residents.
“We’ve been lacking this kind of service for many years, and this is a huge improvement and we’re very happy,” said Garcia.
The old buildings of the Beverly Hills Tuberculosis and Psychiatric Hospital were built in the 1940s. MetroCare began using parts of the campus in the 1970s.
The old venue had finally fallen into such disrepair that the agency was using only 4 of the 11 campus buildings.
MetroCare CEO Dr. John Burroughs said maintaining older buildings has become a money pit.
“Part of MetroCare’s mission over the past decade has been to remake ourselves, to reimagine ourselves,” said Burruss. “Where you feel good about coming, where you are welcome, where the staff feels good about asking you to come and see them there.”
The new 3-building campus will cost approximately $90 million. The money comes from a combination of donations and public funds from MetroCare, Dallas County, and Parkland Hospital, a MetroCare partner.
MetroCare employees and customers moved into temporary space on Sylvan Avenue to make room for construction on the hillside site.
Another MetroCare building across Westmoreland Road will remain open.
There is a DART bus service in Westmoreland to help customers get to MetroCare.
“This is an upgrade to an existing service in an existing location, so I think it’s perfect. It’s perfect for us because it has great access. It’s right on I-30, great bus routes, so people can get to us and we can get out into the community easily,” Burroughs said. extreme.”
Commissioner Garcia said the new facility is an example of service enhancement to meet the growing need for behavioral health care that has risen since the COVID-19 pandemic in all areas of the community with all ethnic groups.
“When we talk about homelessness, when we talk about the criminal justice system, mental health is a big component,” García said. “We’re starting to think about putting money where you need it and thinking outside the box. And I think that’s a huge improvement.”
Ten more MetroCare locations will remain open and a new Pleasant Grove location that will bring the agency to 12 publicly funded behavioral health service locations in Dallas County is also planned.
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