TGH breaks ground on behavioral health hospital on Kennedy
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Aug 24, 2023

Construction is underway on Tampa General Hospital’s Behavioral Health Hospital.

TGH, the University of South Florida Health and Lifepoint Behavioral Health this week marked the groundbreaking of the four-story, 83,000-square-foot facility. It will have 96 to 120 inpatient beds. It is a joint venture partnership between TGH and Lifepoint.

USF Health physicians with the psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences department will treat patients at the facility. When it is complete, it will be the “the first and only freestanding academic medical behavioral health hospital in Florida,” according to TGH.

A portion of the project is publicly funded: $10 million in state funding was secured by Sen. Jay Collins and Rep. Lawrence McClure for the construction of the behavioral health hospital.

The behavioral health hospital is part of TGH’s Kennedy Boulevard campus, which is also home to a freestanding emergency room and the TGH Rehabilitation Hospital. The Kennedy campus is the western border of what TGH CEO John Couris has declared Tampa’s medical and research district. The district’s other anchors include the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine in Water Street, the Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation downtown and the main TGH campus on Davis Islands.

TGH announced plans for the behavioral health facility in early 2022.

“This facility will be an essential resource for patients with behavioral and mental health conditions, especially those experiencing complex conditions,” Dr. Charles Lockwood, USF Health executive vice president and dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and TGH executive vice president and chief academic officer, said in a statement. “With the new behavioral health hospital, we are increasing much-needed access to highly specialized and personalized care for many behavioral and mental health conditions, which will make a positive impact on the health and well-being of the communities we serve.”