MIDLAND, Texas — Health officials held a groundbreaking ceremony Friday for the new Permian Basin Behavioral Health Center.
The new health center will be dedicated to citizens of both Midland and Odessa, while providing both inpatient and outpatient care. People of all ages will be welcome.
It will also be conveniently located between Midland and Odessa.
Russell Tippin, president and CEO of Medical Center Health System, said that more conversations were had about the health center during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We started talking about this up to eight years ago," Tippin said. "As we got through the COVID situation, it really started coming together, we realized there was a big need because that became very prevalent when COVID hit. That was something that we started talking about, that we needed to do something big or something that’s never been done before.”
It isn't every day that two major hospitals team up for such a project.
However, Texas State Representative Tom Craddick said the collaboration has made them the envy of the rest of the state.
“This is the first state and private partnership to do anything like this in the whole state of Texas," Craddick said. "Now we’ve kind of got a mass of every community in the state needs mental health facilities. So now they're all wanting something that’s kind of following what we’ve got out here."
The rising mental health crisis is a problem that has needed to be tackled for a while now, especially in West Texas.
Friday's groundbreaking ceremony is seen as a positive step forward to treating mental illness.
“I don't think people realize how big an issue behavioral health is in the Permian Basin," Tippin said. "I think today is really a big occasion to know that we are taking a step in the right direction with our partners to make sure that when people are in crisis, we can give them a hand and help them out.”
Tippin said that he hopes the facility will be open in time to accept new patients by 2025.