Upgrading Aging Mental Hospital To Brain Health Campus

A replacement facility is being considered for an aging mental hospital in Austin, and a project team has been assembled in anticipation of approval for state funding later in the year. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission and The University of Texas at Austin's Dell Medical School are partnering with community groups like the National Alliance for Mental Illness to lead the proposed redesign of Austin State Hospital. The state-run mental hospital campus serves 75 counties spanning an area the size of Ohio. Page was tapped as the architect of the master plan that would create a model environment for the continuum of brain health care.

According to the chairman of the Austin State Hospital Redesign Steering Committee, many parts of the current facilities are beyond repair. He explained the condition of the hospital is rated so poorly that it would cost far more to renovate. The three buildings that serve as a hospital and housing units on the Hyde Park campus were built in 1958, but the original hospital building dates back more than 160 years. The "Old Main" building, which currently houses administrative offices, is on the National Register of Historic Places and is not expected to be torn down.

Page is developing multiple options for consideration as part of a 2017 Texas Legislature decision to fund the planning process for the redesign of the campus after a 2016 independent review found the state’s mental health hospitals in need of major renovations or complete replacements. Design objectives include a modern inpatient facility that enables a continuum of care and engages the surrounding community. The firm previously worked on The University of Texas at Austin Medical District Master Plan and Dell Medical School, as well as The University of Texas at Dallas Brain Performance Institute.

To view the Austin State Hosptial Brain Health System Redesign for Reimaging Mental Health, click here.

To read a related article in the Austin Business Journal, click here.  

To read a related article in the Austin American-Statesman, click here.

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