What are private freestanding behavioral health hospitals?
Freestanding private behavioral health hospitals are licensed by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and provide inpatient, outpatient and crisis stabilization treatment for the entire age spectrum of Texans, from children to seniors.
Texas features 67 behavioral health hospitals, and in many communities, they act as the safety net in the state's mental health system.
In Texas statute, the hospitals are known as "institutions for mental disease" or "IMDs."
What types of hospitals offer inpatient behavioral health care in Texas?
Several different types of hospitals offer inpatient behavioral health care: community hospitals that feature a behavioral health department, state hospitals and private freestanding behavioral health hospitals, which are represented by TABHS.
Click here to learn more private behavioral health hospitals.
What are state hospitals?
Texas' state hospitals mostly serve forensic patients. Per the Texas Tribune:
Today, state hospitals treat mostly forensic patients, that is, those individuals transferred from county jails or the state prison system because they were determined to be incompetent to stand trial or because a jury found them not guilty by reason of insanity.
In 2023, a little over 60% of adults treated inside state hospitals came from the criminal justice system, either from county jails or the prison system.
Texas will begin building seven new state psychiatric hospitals in 2024. The Texas Legislature has dedicated $2.5 billion to state psychiatric hospitals since 2017.
What types of mental health services are delivered in Texas?
Mental health treatment includes individual/family counseling, outpatient care and inpatient hospital care.
Do private freestanding behavioral health hospitals serve the Medicaid population?
A significant percentage of patients are Medicaid beneficiaries. Click here to learn more.