A board governing the Mental Health Department on Thursday agreed to purchase properties in southwest Oklahoma City to replace the Griffin Memorial Hospital in Norman.
The cost of purchasing and renovating the three properties totals about $60 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds that the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services are required to spend by the end of 2026, an agency spokesperson said.
When renovations are completed, the new inpatient mental health hospital complex has a potential capacity of 197 beds, a spokesperson said, which is an increase from the 120 beds at Griffin Memorial.
The largest of the purchases is a former Sisters of Saint Mary Health hospital campus at 2129 SW 59th St., which includes a main complex, annex and warehouse, totaling over 190,000 square feet.
A second building, at 5835 S. Pennsylvania Ave., is a vacant medical office. The agency intends to use this building as an office site for the project manager.
Chad Carden, the agency’s chief of operations, said this keeps funding within the project and allows the Mental Health Department to keep the money invested in property rather than renting temporary job site trailers.
The third property is 1.6 acres of vacant land at 2149 SW 59th St., which Carden said is ready to build on and has the potential to be a future site at the new hospital campus.
During the first phase of construction, the agency will prioritize opening 32 beds in an annex building by the end of 2025.
A timeline was not yet determined for the full project to be completed.
The Mental Health Department’s goal is to relocate all services offered at Griffin Memorial to the new campus. The hospital serves adults with severe mental illness.
A previous effort to build the Donahue Behavioral Health Campus in Oklahoma City became too expensive and went over budget.
Interim Commissioner Gregory Slavonic said the Donahue project would have cost $187 million to complete, and this new campus will save taxpayer dollars.
While the Mental Health Department’s governing board approved the purchases, the transaction is still being finalized.
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