Private, Freestanding Behavioral Health Hospitals
The Backbone of Inpatient Psychiatric Care in Texas
More than 60 private, freestanding behavioral health hospitals care for Texans in crisis. Together they operate 5,150 inpatient psychiatric beds. That is 52 percent of all inpatient psychiatric beds in Texas and more than state-owned and general hospitals combined.
These hospitals focus solely on behavioral health care. Every unit, every team and every treatment plan is built around stabilizing patients and returning them to their families, their work and their lives.
Where Texans Receive Inpatient Psychiatric Care
Two Paths, Three Facilities
When a Texan needs inpatient psychiatric care, the path splits: state-owned hospitals that mostly serve forensic patients, or community-based care.
Community-based
Private, freestanding behavioral health hospitals
More than 60 hospitals that specialize in inpatient psychiatric care and serve as the backbone of inpatient psychiatric care in Texas.
Community-based
General acute hospitals
About 9 percent of general acute hospitals in Texas have inpatient psychiatric beds.
State-owned
State-owned psychiatric hospitals
Mostly serve the forensic population. About 70 percent of fiscal year 2025 patients were on forensic commitment, and the general public often faces long waits for a bed.
Fact Sheet · PDF
The Cost to Build a New State Psychiatric Hospital Bed
State-owned psychiatric hospital capital and operating costs
83%
of behavioral health inpatient days in hospitals outside the state system take place in private, freestanding behavioral health hospitals.
Source: HHSC 2024 DSH qualification file; 2022 Medicare cost reports.
Fact Sheet · PDF
Two Paths, Three Facilities
Where Texans receive inpatient psychiatric care
A Safety Net for Medicaid Patients
Private, freestanding hospitals serve patients of every age and every insurance type, and a large share of their patients are covered by Texas Medicaid.
Christopher Dowers of Oceans Healthcare explains why these hospitals form the backbone of the state’s inpatient behavioral health system and why Medicaid matters to the Texans they serve.
Christopher Dowers, Oceans Healthcare · The backbone of Texas’ inpatient behavioral health system
Expertise Meets Compassion
Right Place. Right Care.
A behavioral health crisis calls for a setting built for it. Behavioral health hospitals bring care teams with decades of experience and specialized de-escalation training, buildings designed around patient safety and the medical resources to treat the physical conditions many patients arrive with.
An emergency room can stabilize a patient for a few hours. A behavioral health hospital provides the full course of treatment that follows.
Physician-led treatment
Care supervised by board-certified or board-eligible psychiatrists, with nurses, therapists and counselors working as one team.
Intensive therapy
Daily individual and group therapy using evidence-based approaches matched to each patient’s diagnosis.
Medication management
Psychiatrists start, adjust and monitor medications in a setting where the response can be watched around the clock.
Safe by design
Units, rooms and routines are designed to protect patients at their most vulnerable, with staff trained to calm a crisis.
Families in the plan
Parents, spouses and caregivers take part in treatment and learn how to support recovery at home.
Whole-person care
Medical care is coordinated alongside psychiatric treatment, so co-occurring conditions are treated rather than set aside.
Fact Sheet · PDF · 2 pages
Why Fund Private, Freestanding Behavioral Health Hospitals?
The right place. The right treatment.
Beyond the Hospital Stay
Care That Continues After Discharge
A hospital’s work does not end when a patient goes home. Recovery takes time, and the weeks after discharge matter as much as the days inside.
Before a patient leaves, the care team builds an aftercare plan with follow-up appointments, a medication plan, family involvement and connections to outpatient and community supports. Many hospitals also offer two step-down programs that help patients keep their progress as they return to daily life.
Alex Wanee, Cedar Crest Hospital and Residential Treatment Center, Belton · How PHP and IOP programs are transforming lives
PHP
Partial Hospitalization Program
Full-day, structured treatment at the hospital, typically five days a week. Patients sleep at home each night. PHP can ease the step down from inpatient care or, for some patients, prevent an admission altogether.
IOP
Intensive Outpatient Program
A few hours of therapy several days a week, often scheduled around school or work. Patients keep building skills with the same care team while they return to their normal routines.
The Entire Spectrum of Texans
Care for Every Stage of Life
Private, freestanding behavioral health hospitals treat Texans from early childhood through their senior years, with programs and care teams built around each age group.
Children
Treatment designed for younger patients, with parents and caregivers involved at every step and coordination with schools.
Adolescents
Care for teens facing depression, anxiety, mood disorders and crisis, separate from adult units, with schoolwork continuing during the stay.
Adults
Stabilization and treatment for mental illness and co-occurring substance use, with a plan to return to work and family.
Seniors
Older-adult programs that address depression, dementia-related behaviors and the medical conditions that come with age.
Alex Wanee, Cedar Crest Hospital and Residential Treatment Center, Belton · Treating the entire spectrum of patients, from children to seniors
Every Texan, Every Coverage Type
These hospitals accept patients with private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid, and Medicaid patients make up a significant share of their admissions.
That matters most for young Texans. Medicaid was the expected payer for 39 percent of psychiatric hospital stays and half of all psychiatric emergency room visits by Texas children ages 5 to 17 in 2023.1
Youth Mental Health in Texas
Texas Children Need More Inpatient Care Than Texas Can Provide
A two-year study funded by the 88th Texas Legislature and conducted by Texas A&M University Health found a moderate shortage of inpatient psychiatric beds for children and adolescents, with a drop in beds for young patients in 2023.
1 in 2
Nearly half of all hospital stays by Texas children ages 5 to 17 in 2023 were for a psychiatric condition.
32,153
Emergency room visits by Texas children and teens for psychiatric conditions in 2023. The most common reason was suicidal thoughts or self-harm.
227 of 254
Texas counties have no inpatient psychiatric beds at all.
51.6 miles
Average distance from a Texas county to the nearest inpatient psychiatric bed. In 17 counties it is more than 100 miles.
Inpatient psychiatric beds for Texas children, per 100,000
Texas also ranks 50th in the nation for mental health workforce availability.
Source: 1 Liberzon, I., Ory, M.G. and Texas A&M Health Study Team. Study on Mental Health Services for Children and Adolescents: Final Report. Texas A&M University Health Science Center, December 2025. Figures reflect 2023 Texas DSHS inpatient and emergency department discharge data and the 2023 American Hospital Association Annual Survey. Workforce ranking: Mental Health America, as cited in the report.
Across Texas
Find a Hospital Near You
TABHS member hospitals serve communities from El Paso to the Rio Grande Valley and from the Panhandle to the Gulf Coast.
Search the directory to find a private, freestanding behavioral health hospital and its contact information.
Find a HospitalIn a crisis, call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. In an emergency, call 911.
Who We Are
About TABHS
Founded in 2024, the Texas Association of Behavioral Health Systems is the united voice of the state’s private, freestanding behavioral health hospitals. Meet our members and partners.
Learn about TABHSWhat Texas Can Do
Policy Solutions
Practical steps to expand access to community-based inpatient psychiatric care for Texans of every age.
See our policy solutions
