UT Southwestern Medical Center is back in the running to operate the state’s new psychiatric hospital in Dallas. The teaching hospital remains the right partner for this project.
State leaders were right to conduct a competitive bid process, given the size of the investment, but now that the bids are in, it’s clear that UTSW is still the best choice. The state must move with urgency to get the facility up and running to make these beds available to people who desperately need them.
Earlier this year, lawmakers unexpectedly scrapped the original plan for the hospital that was to be funded and overseen by the state and run by UTSW, and opened the opportunity to outside bidders.
In 2021, the state approved $384 million for the Dallas hospital, which included the budget for UTSW to operate it. Another $261 million was provided by Children’s Health to build the pediatric wing, this newspaper reported. When UTSW’s bed-rate projections came in higher than anticipated, the state was right to think about going back to the drawing board to consider alternative operators, but now we are back where we started.
Opinion
The deadline for proposals was Nov. 18, and three applicants threw their names in the running, but only UTSW is truly prepared to operate the full hospital.
Recovery Solutions, which runs a mental health facility in Montgomery County, submitted information to run the facility but indicated it prefers to run only the adult wing of the hospital. Desiree Williams Consulting, a private consultant, applied to be a subcontractor, but not to run the facility.
As the facility at Harry Hines Boulevard and Medical Center Parkway nears completion, state officials have said it could begin staffing in January. The adult wing of the hospital is almost finished, and the children’s wing will follow in the spring. If a contract is awarded and funding is released, UTSW estimates it would take about eight months to ramp up operations and begin admitting patients.
UTSW has already been deeply involved in designing and planning the facility. Restarting that process with a different operator could make sense if it would ultimately be better for the facility in the long run, but no better options have appeared.
The bid process served its purpose by ensuring that all alternatives were considered. But with the facility nearly complete and long waitlists for psychiatric beds, the choice is clear. We need these beds as soon as possible, and UTSW is the best operator positioned to make that happen.