01. Executive Summary
Austin State Hospital Redesign Executive Summary
During the past four years, Texas has invested $305M to build a new Austin State Hospital (ASH) while supporting the ASH Redesign Project, a partnership between Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) and Dell Medical School (Dell Med) at the University of Texas at Austin. The state’s investment supported the creation of a master plan and architectural design in Phase I, began construction in Phase II, and the completion of the hospital in Phase III. Importantly, with the completion of the new hospital, Central Texas will have a new world-class facility to care for the most vulnerable mental health population. During each phase of the ASH Redesign project, Dell Med and HHSC partnered to develop plans and recommendations to best position the new facility within the mental health continuum of care, to optimize Texas’ investment in mental health. Using work groups comprised of people with lived experience, community members, stakeholders, and system experts next step recommendations have been (in Phase II) and are (Phase III) provided to guide the next steps toward improving mental health in Central Texas.
To this end, with this document we provide recommendations to HHSC for consideration for the 88th Legislative Session. These recommendations are based upon five strategies that, if implemented, will optimize the use of ASH and the investment in mental health. Work groups were established in each of these five strategies and then collectively supported the following recommendations as next steps in improving mental health care in Central Texas.
Increase the operational budget to support hospital employees
Align salaries of ASH employees to be competitive within the Austin market to ensure a high quality, consistent hospital workforce.
Plan, invest, build, and support a continuum of housing for people residing in ASH
Develop broader alternatives for therapeutic and residential housing for individuals residing at ASH who no longer need hospital level care.
Strengthen and expand academic partnerships to build a workforce pipeline
Create a planning team to further advance the partnership between HHSC, ASH and Dell Medical School.
Establish an academic multi-disciplinary program at ASH.
Expand peer and family services
Expand peer and family members in leadership roles in hospital and state services.
Use peer and family services to bridge from hospital discharge to outpatient continuum care.
Share the history of the Austin State Hospital
Create an actionable plan to establish the Community Historical Resource Center.
The current highest priority from Phase III is funding the workforce. Without market competitive salaries for all staff levels, operating the new hospital will be difficult. The new hospital will be complete at the end of 2023, with a goal to open and operate all 240 beds as quickly as possible after that. However, without sufficient staff, the hospital will not be able to open at full capacity and will have a planned ramp up schedule. With market competitive salaries for ASH employees, the hospital will be better positioned to support Texas. The completed hospital can then be integrated into an efficient continuum of care. The remainder of this report provides key recommendations to support a full continuum of care for the Central Texas Brain Health System. Continued support and investment will place Texas as a leader in brain (mental) health care building from our new world-class hospital.
