By HFT Staff

The Florida Health Sciences Board has approved the construction of Tampa General Hospital’s Behavioral Health Hospital. The new four-story facility provides a full range of inpatient and outpatient services. 

"Tampa General is committed to meeting the wide spectrum of health and wellness needs of our community, including all aspects of behavioral health which are more in demand than ever before," says John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General Hospital. "Working side-by-side with USF Health, the new TGH Behavioral Health Hospital will provide critical academically driven behavioral health care, support the next generation of behavioral health physicians and fortify Tampa's growing medical district, while moving TGH one step closer to being the country's safest and most innovative academic medical center." 

TGH Behavioral Health Hospital will be located in downtown Tampa, adjacent to the new Tampa General Rehabilitation Hospital. 

The new hospital is projected to be approximately 83,000 square feet. It will include 96 inpatient beds with the potential to expand to 120 beds. Tampa General Hospital will lead the management of the hospital, and physicians with the USF Health Department of Psychiatry will provide care to an expansive patient population. The hospital is expected to break ground in late 2022 or early 2023 and officially open in late 2024. 

With a focus on education, care and research, the new hospital will provide hands-on learning opportunities for USF Health Morsani College of Medicine students and on-the-job training for resident physicians in psychiatry. With an increased need for care and a shortage of behavioral health practitioners in the region, the hospital will also serve as a recruitment tool for medical residents and psychiatrists to Tampa Bay while increasing access to quality care. 

The hospital will serve as a central receiving facility (CRF), operating as the first point of evaluation and care, providing initial emergent evaluations for individuals in the community going through a behavioral health crisis. Patients experiencing mental health emergencies would receive emergent evaluation via the CRF and intensive stabilization with an immediate assessment to determine the safest treatment plan beyond the initial crisis.