Hill Country Center for Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities
A rendering of the Uvalde Crisis Center, planned to be built on city-donated land that is part of Kirk Farms in west Uvalde, near the Uvalde County Fairplex. Officials said construction is expected to begin in July.
Construction is expected to begin in July on the 32-bed behavioral health center west of U.S. Highway 90, said Todd Citron, CEO of the Hill Country Center for Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities.
Citron reported to the Uvalde City Council on June 11 and said the facility is scheduled to open in the summer of 2025. It will serve Uvalde and 31 surrounding counties.
Citron said 100 new employees will work there, but his concern is where to house them. Citron told the Leader-News he has met with local housing officials to discuss the issue.
The new facility will specialize in crisis stabilization and operate as a walk-in, 24-hour diversion center and a separate entrance for police drop-offs.
It will have 16 adult beds and 16 youth beds, a separate entrance and facilities for youth services and a privacy fence.
The center will utilize a second building for a variety of outpatient programs and relocate the Hill Country MHDD facility that provides those services from its location at 328 Crystal City Highway in the south part of town, where it has been for about 26 years. The facility has about 25 employees after nearly doubling its staff with funding allocated by the Department of Health and Human Services. In fiscal year 2023, it provided about 13,000 mental health services to about 700 people. It is expanding substance abuse counseling services.
Council members voted unanimously to transfer 7.58 acres of city-owned Kirk Farms land to Hill Country MHDD for the project.
City Councilman Ernest W. “Chip” King III said the city included a land donation provision in the contract in case the plan falls through or the facility closes.
“So what’s here is that it has to be a community-based mental health and intellectual disability service. And if we can’t get that done, the land will revert to us and whatever improvements are made to it will be ours. That’s our guarantee to you.” [city residents] “We’re trying to stay in business and if something happens, we’re not going to let it become a car dealership,” King said.
Project Details
Citron said the projectrm or other organisations have been appearing before city authorities since 2018.
In an interview with the newspaper in May, he said the original plan was to build a psychiatric hospital. The plans changed over time after Meadows Mental Health conducted a needs assessment to include a two-building, 50,000-square-foot crisis care residential and outpatient facility.
Citron said he believes the project is adequately funded.
The Hill Country Center for Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities will manage the facility under a contract through the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
In April, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that during the 88th Legislative Session, Hill Country MHDD received $33.6 million for construction of the center and $5 million for first-year operating costs.
Citron said about $30 million will go toward construction and about $3.5 million will go toward furniture and equipment.
Annual operating costs are expected to be $10 million, he said. A federal grant of $5 million will help cover the other half of the operating costs, Citron said. He said the grant was awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration.
In July 2021, Congressman Tony Gonzales, who represents the 23rd District, which includes Uvalde, announced that $2 million in federal funding had been allocated for the project.
Hill Country MHDD Chief Financial Officer Charles Rittenhouse said the money is being used for building preparation costs, including engineering and architectural services.
Future plans include adding a gym, a basketball court and four healing garden areas.
jkeeble@ulnnow.com, 830-278-3335
