Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute will relocate to a 49-acre site at 1001 Birmingham Highway in Chattanooga, with the replacement hospital expected to open around 2030, Local 3 News reported Sept. 23.
The planned facility will have capacity for up to 200 beds, an increase of 50 from the current hospital’s 150 adult psychiatric beds. Design work is expected to continue through 2027, followed by construction beginning in early 2028.
The move comes after a 2024 investigation found the current Moccasin Bend site cannot be expanded because of buried layers of historic materials. The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and Department of General Services spent more than three years searching for a replacement site. The project has an original budget of $260 million, appropriated by the Tennessee General Assembly in 2022.
The State Building Commission Executive Subcommittee approved the Birmingham Highway property purchase in August 2026. The purchase closed in September, according to the report.
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