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HARLINGEN – The Texas Health and Human Services Commission is inviting the public to attend an information session on Tuesday, July 23, to learn more about the $120 million expansion project at Rio Grande State Center.
The community information session will offer an overview of state hospital system improvements and provide the public an opportunity to ask questions about the facility.
“Thanks to a significant investment by Gov. Greg Abbott and the 88th Texas Legislature, we plan to break ground on the expansion of the Rio Grande State Center later this year,” said Scott Schalchlin, deputy executive commissioner of the HHSC Health and Specialty Care System. “We want community members, leaders and neighbors to learn how this expansion will benefit their community with modernized, secure, high-quality inpatient psychiatric care.”
The construction project will add a new 50-bed unit to the campus to provide inpatient mental health care in a maximum-security setting. This new unit will be in addition to the center’s 55-bed non-maximum-security unit.
The new maximum-security unit will have state-of-the-art therapeutic settings to facilitate patient recovery, including outdoor spaces and individual patient rooms that incorporate extensive use of natural light. Security measures, such as video surveillance, alarms, fencing, electronic monitors and additional staff, will help ensure the safety of patients, staff and the community. Construction is set to begin in late 2024 and estimated for completion in summer 2027.
Since 2017, Gov. Abbott and the state Legislature have invested more than $2.5 billion to replace, renovate or build state hospitals across Texas.
HHSC owns and operates nine state hospitals and one residential treatment center for youth. State hospitals provide inpatient psychiatric services to individuals on civil commitments and competency restoration services for people on forensic commitments who have been determined incompetent to stand trial or found not guilty by reason of insanity.
WHAT: Community Information Session
WHEN: 6-7 p.m., Tuesday, July 23, 2024
WHERE: Harlingen Economic Development Corporation
2424 Boxwood St., Ste. 125
Auditorium Room 136
Harlingen, TX 78550
Reporters should RSVP: PressOffice@hhs.texas.gov.
For more information about state hospital construction projects, visit the HHSC Changes to Texas State Hospitals page.