From a 292-bed state-funded psychiatric hospital in Texas to New Mexico’s only children’s emergency psychiatric unit, hospitals and health systems are expanding behavioral health access as demand continues to grow, representing more than $730 million in investment.
Here are 19 behavioral health projects Becker’s has reported on in recent weeks:
- Plano, Texas-based Oceans Healthcare opened Oceans Behavioral Hospital of Greater New Orleans — Kenner West in Kenner, La. The campus occupies the facility previously operated as Perimeter Behavioral Hospital of New Orleans. The campus provides inpatient behavioral healthcare services for adults and older adults, as well as outpatient behavioral health programming.
- Sauget, Ill.-based SIHF Healthcare will build a $231 million hospital in Cahokia Heights that will replace Touchette Regional Hospital. The new campus will increase Touchette’s psychiatric bed count, from 38 to 96, split among 24 adolescent beds, 24 senior beds and 48 adult beds.
- In August 2026, Stamford (Conn.) Health is opening the Bennett Child & Adolescent EmPATH Unit and PATHways Program located within the Stamford Hospital Emergency Department to expand behavioral health services for children and adolescents in Fairfield County. The Carl & Dorothy Bennett Foundation contributed $1 million to support the initiative.
- Yale New Haven (Conn.) Children’s Hospital unveiled a Crisis Intervention Center, a dedicated behavioral health treatment area within its emergency department. The center will begin caring for patients in August. The new space uses the Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment and Healing (EmPATH) model, which focuses on rapid evaluation, crisis stabilization and connecting patients with ongoing behavioral health services in a therapeutic environment.
- San Bernardino County opened the Kern Street Adult Residential Facility, a 30-bed licensed residential care facility for adults ages 18 and older with serious mental illness, June 25. The facility was developed by San Bernardino-based Helping Hearts California in partnership with the county, Inland Empire Health Plan and Molina Healthcare. San Bernardino County provided $2.5 million in Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention funding. The project also received $1.69 million in Housing and Homelessness Incentive Program funding from Inland Empire Health Plan and Molina Healthcare.
- Sweetser, a nonprofit behavioral and mental healthcare organization in Saco, Maine, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new youth psychiatric residential treatment facility. The facility will provide 24/7 intensive care for Maine youth under 21 with acute behavioral healthcare needs. It will have 16 beds and be staffed with psychiatrists, behavioral care and mental health experts, and qualified nursing staff.
- Ascension Wisconsin in Glendale invested $10 million to renovate and open a new behavioral health unit at Milwaukee-based St. Francis Hospital. The center officially opens July 1 and will serve 61 adults and children in need of behavioral health services. The hospital expects the new unit to serve an additional 1,000 patients in its first year.
- Oconomowoc, Wis.-based Rogers Behavioral Health will open two new facilities, including a 24-bed residential treatment site for adults with eating disorders in June and a 20-bed residential care center for young adults receiving treatment for OCD, anxiety and depression in August.
- Florence, S.C.-based McLeod Regional Medical Center opened a pediatric behavioral health crisis stabilization unit for children experiencing psychiatric emergencies. The new pediatric EmPATH — emergency psychiatric assessment, treatment and healing — unit includes 15 beds and is housed within McLeod Children’s Hospital. The program is designed to provide rapid psychiatric evaluation and short-term treatment for pediatric patients in a dedicated care environment.
- Sheridan (Wyo.) Memorial Hospital hosted an open house for the Path Behavioral Health Center June 24. In mid-July, the hospital’s outpatient behavioral health clinic will relocate from the SMH Outpatient Center to the Path. The clinic will continue providing psychiatric services from the new location. The facility’s crisis stabilization program is expected to open later this summer, followed by inpatient behavioral health services later this year.
- Greensburg, Pa.-based Independence Health System opened a 28-bed inpatient behavioral health unit at its Latrobe Hospital June 25. The unit treats adults experiencing depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation, among other behavioral health conditions. It is supported by a $2.5 million donation from the Latrobe Area Hospital Charitable Foundation.
- Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital Behavioral Health Hospital launched a partial hospitalization program to bridge the care gap between inpatient care and outpatient services. The structured daytime treatment program will provide intensive behavioral healthcare without requiring an overnight hospital stay.
- New Orleans-based LCMC Health broke ground on a behavioral health expansion at New Orleans East Hospital, creating the hospital’s first inpatient behavioral health unit since it opened in 2014. The project is intended to expand access to mental healthcare services for residents of New Orleans East and neighboring communities.
- Northwell Health Physician Partners opened a new standalone behavioral health practice in Melville, N.Y., expanding outpatient mental health services for patients of all ages in Suffolk County. The more than 5,500-square-foot facility offers psychiatric evaluations, medication management and therapy services and is modeled after the organization’s outpatient behavioral health practice in Manhasset, N.Y., which opened in 2013.
- The Texas Health and Human Services Commission and UT Southwestern Medical Center opened the Texas Behavioral Health Center June 23, a new inpatient psychiatric hospital in Dallas. The facility was funded with $384 million from the state and $261 million from Children’s Health and will have 292 beds when fully operational, including 200 adult beds and up to 92 pediatric beds.
- Ochsner Lafayette General and Plano, Texas-based Oceans Healthcare opened Ochsner Behavioral Health Acadiana-Lafayette, a new 62-bed behavioral health hospital in Lafayette, La., that will begin accepting patients July 7. The opening expands behavioral health access across Acadiana and increases the total inpatient capacity of Ochsner Behavioral Health Acadiana to 100 beds.
- Stamford (Conn.) Health will build a new cancer center and behavioral health facility as part of a $275 million expansion project. As part of the project, the health system’s existing Bennett Cancer Center will be converted into a behavioral health facility with inpatient and outpatient care capacity, with construction expected to begin in 2027.
- Edison, N.J.-based Hackensack Meridian Health opened Belle Mead, N.J.-based Carrier Clinic’s $40 million, 43,000-square-foot expansion project to expand care for children and adolescents facing mental health crises. The project adds 52 inpatient beds for youths and includes multi-sensory rooms, The Cohen Community Resource and Education Center as a family resource and training center, and a medical staff suite for teaching.
- Albuquerque-based University of New Mexico Hospital opened a $36 million, 32,500-square-foot Children’s Psychiatric Center, housing 36 inpatient beds and the capacity to expand to 52. The center is the state’s only children’s emergency psychiatric unit that serves patients regardless of ability to pay. It also includes a dedicated four-bed unit for the highest-acuity patients. The hospital expects to begin seeing patients in July.
At the Becker's Fall Behavioral Health Summit, taking place November 4–5 in Chicago, behavioral health leaders and executives will explore strategies for expanding access to care, integrating services, addressing workforce challenges and leveraging innovation to improve outcomes across the behavioral health continuum. Apply for complimentary registration now.