Oklahoma is going to use $125 million from the American Rescue Plan Act to build two behavioral health hospitals in the state, according to an Oct. 6 report from Oklahoma City News 9.
This is Oklahoma lawmakers' largest single investment in behavioral health services, according to the report.
Part of the funding — $38 million — will go toward replacing Tulsa's Center for Behavioral Health with a new center that will include 106 beds and a crisis urgent care unit.
The remaining $87 million will be used to replace Griffin Memorial Hospital in Norman with a psychiatric hospital housing 330 beds.
"The one thing we have in Oklahoma is we have a lot of statistics and so Oklahoma has 900 diagnosed mental health cases per 1 practicing clinician," Sarah Stitt, wife of Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, told News 9. "As a state and a community in Oklahoma we have to support our next generation of Oklahomans."