Rusk State Hospital celebrates new $202M patient complex

A $202 million, state-of-the-art patient complex was unveiled at the Rusk State Hospital Wednesday, June 7. The new construction features private rooms, common activity spaces, treatment areas, outdoor courtyards and the use of natural light to promote recovery and healing.

The Rusk State Hospital, in operation since 1919, offers in-patient psychiatric care to people in 36 counties throughout East Texas, serving an average of 269 people every year.

“I’m honored to recognize the grand opening of the newly renovated Rusk State Hospital. This $202 million project included the expansion of the maximum security unit, the renovation of the non-maximum security unit and the addition of therapeutic spaced,” Governor Greg Abbott said in a recorded video greeting. “This newly renovated facility will let patients feel more connected to nature and encourage the healing process.”

The three story complex includes a 100-bed non-maximum-security unit and a 100-bed maximum security unit. While the overall number of beds will remain the same, the maximum security beds increased from 40 to 100.

A greater number of maximum security units is incredibly important, according to Michelle Alletto, Chief Program & Services Officer, Health and Human Services Commission.

“Rusk State Hospital plays an integral role in our state-wide mental health continuum of care as it is one of the few hospitals in the state that offer care in a maximum security setting,” Alletto said. “We do need to have not only an increase in maximum security units, but a higher quality setting for our maximum security units. There are a lot of details that go into making sure that it is safe for the patients, safe for staff, and again, that therapeutic environment even for our patients that are hardest to serve.”

HHS Executive Commissioner Cecile Erwin Young described the modern facility as a “happy place.”

“It is so amazing to me to see what has happened behind us,” she said, referencing the new building. “Senator [Robert] Nichols brought us on a tour of this facility in 2016 and it was eyeopening.”

She said the new facility was unimaginable at the time she toured the former building.

State Senator Robert Nichols expressed a similar sentiment.

“A decade or so ago, I would have never thought that I would be standing here in Rusk, Texas in front of the most modern, state-of-the-art mental hospital in the entire United States,” he said.

The new hospital units consist of eight or nine single-person rooms on three hallways with shared living areas with televisions, screened in porches and quiet dens. The hospital provides for nearly every patient need in-house with a theater, music room, beauty salon, canteen, library, greenhouse, teaching kitchen, gym, medical exam rooms and outdoor courtyards.

Additionally, a new 18,900-square-foot administration building, which was completed in 2021, houses the administration and IT departments and staff.

The funding for the Rusk State Hospital construction project is part of an overall $3.2 million funding plan to also replace, renovate or expand state hospitals in Austin, Kerrville, San Antonio, Houston and Dallas. For information about state hospital construction projects throughout Texas, visit hhs.texas.gov/about/process-improvement/improving-services-texans/changes-texas-state-hospitals.