HOUSTON — The now-defunct Riverside General Hospital in Houston’s Third Ward could soon be coming back to life as a new mental health care facility.
On Tuesday, Harris County Commissioners voted to buy the property nearly three years after its controversial closure in April 2015.
The hospital at 3206 Ennis Street provided mental health care for more than eight decades before financial and legal troubles forced it into bankruptcy, and ultimately, closure.
Harris County Judge Ed Emmett says it could become a clinic that could potentially help hundreds of patients at a time.
“I’m as excited about this as anything we’ve done,” said Emmett, after the unanimous vote during Tuesday’s Commissioners Court meeting. “What this will do is create a health care facility that will also have a mental health component that will serve a needed area.”
Emmett says Harris Center and Harris Health will help figure out exactly what the mix will be and whether it could be part of the county’s jail diversion program.
Nonprofit Houston Endowment is donating $5.3 million to cover the tab.
“I think it may help a lot of people that may not have vehicles in the area,” said Joshua Jackson, a Third Ward resident. “It’s something that’s local.”
“That would be awesome,” said Charles Oliver, the owner and executive chef at the French Fry House, which sits across the street from the old hospital. “I wouldn’t be where I was at if I didn’t have help from doctors or medical facilities that could actually help you.”
Catherine Butsch Villarreal, Director of Communications for Houston Endowment, says a bankruptcy judge still needs to sign off on Commissioners’ decision. That hearing is set for Thursday.
“That being said, we are delighted by the Commissioners’ decision, which moves Riverside one step closer to being returned to the community,” said Villarreal. “We are open to providing certain additional resources to the County to allow the project to progress.”
Emmett said the entire building rehabilitation could cost around $18 million, which he pointed out would be the same cost for any other building that size. He did not have a timeline for completion.