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JPS Health Network celebrates the opening of the Psychiatric Emergency Center in Fort Worth on Sept. 10, 2025. (Ismael Belkoura | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\nAt Wednesday\u2019s ribbon-cutting ceremony for JPS Health Network\u2019s Psychiatric Emergency Center, District 9 council member Elizabeth Beck asked people to close their eyes and raise their hands if they or someone they know struggled with mental illness.<\/p>\n
Almost every single hand in the room went up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is how significant the issue here is in our community for mental illness,\u201d Beck said.<\/p>\n
The new JPS Psychiatric Emergency Center will push to address this growing need. The facility opens Sept. 17 and will be the first in the county dedicated to psychiatric emergencies. By moving psychiatric emergency services from the 10th floor of the main campus to a free-standing 68,000-square-foot building, medical personnel will be able to better care for patients in crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have created a place where those in crisis will be able to find care, safety, dignity, compassion and, most of all, hope,\u201d said Dr. Karen Duncan, president and CEO of the JPS Health Network. \u201cThis is more than a new building. It\u2019s a promise that has been fulfilled.\u201d<\/p>\n
JPS Health Network celebrates the opening of the Psychiatric Emergency Center in Fort Worth on Sept. 10, 2025. (Ismael Belkoura | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n
The facility, which has care spaces for about 90 people, is built with patients\u2019 needs in mind. Instead of the clinical settings of most hospitals and psychiatric facilities, the emergency center uses soft lighting and cool colors to bring peace to those in distress. Laser-printed scenic nature shots on the walls are also meant to ease visitors\u2019 stress.<\/p>\n
What behavioral health services does the JPS Health Network provide?<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr. Nekesha Oliphant, the chair of psychiatry and behavioral health, said the teaching facility will serve as an \u201centry point\u201d for other behavioral services at JPS.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is where the care providers of the future come and learn. How do I provide compassionate care? How do I consider medications? How do I prescribe safely?\u201d Oliphant said.<\/p>\n Several speakers took the stage at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, including Tarrant County Judge Tim O\u2019Hare. Along with praising the facility, he noted the growing need for mental health services in the county.<\/p>\n \u201cThe crisis that we face in this country of mental health illness is at an unprecedented level,\u201d O\u2019Hare said. \u201cSeveral years ago, the people of Tarrant County stepped up and said, \u2018We\u2019re going to do our part to help.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Suicide rates have increased in the United States over the last two decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>. Recent data also has shown an uptick in suicides in Tarrant County, with a 16% increase from 2018 to 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n Zelia Baugh, executive vice president of behavioral health at JPS, said the facility\u2019s existence will set an example for other counties across the country and show how best to tackle the mental health crisis.<\/p>\n \u201cMental health is very treatable. People recover every day \u2026 but you have to have an environment that\u2019s therapeutic and welcoming so that they want to come and ask for help,\u201d Baugh said. \u201cAnd this place does that.\u201d<\/p>\n Along with improvements for patients come better resources for first responders. The center has a dedicated entrance for paramedics and police officers, which is not often available at psychiatric emergency facilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n First responders were able to tour the facility after the ribbon cutting. Officers said the facility will help streamline the process of getting care for a patient in distress. They also referred to anti-ligature door handles and the lack of toilet seats as measures they recognized at the center that would keep patients safe.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re definitely looking to divert people away from jail into a place like this,\u201d said Addie Duck, a mental health professional for the Roanoke Police Department.\u00a0<\/p>\n Construction for the facility began<\/a> in October 2022 as part of the JPS Master Facility Plan<\/a>, with the purpose of expanding and modernizing the JPS campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n The emergency center is the second completed project in the master plan, with JPS\u2019s Medical Home Southwest Tarrant opening in December<\/a>. The expansion project was initially approved in 2018 when voters approved an $800 million bond package<\/a>.<\/p>\n A new parking garage is the next expansion project and is set to open in spring 2026.<\/p>\n Ismael M. Belkoura is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n Republish This Story<\/p>\n\n
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A seclusion room in the new JPS Psychiatric Emergency Center in Fort Worth on Sept. 10, 2025, is flanked by calming scenic photography. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n![\"(Maria](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0910-JPSPsychClinic-01-.jpg\")
First responders tour the new JPS Psychiatric Emergency Center in Fort Worth on Sept. 10, 2025. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n
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