Denton County now owns the former Mayhill Hospital in Denton, and county leaders say the building will become the mental health facility they have been trying to open for years.
County Judge Andy Eads signed the $12.5 million purchase contract Tuesday, Nov. 10, with the rest of the Commissioners Court gathered around him, the county said in an announcement posted Friday. The two-story, 59,800-square-foot building at 2809 S. Mayhill Road sits on 3.21 acres and opened as Mayhill Hospital in 2005.
Eads called it a "landmark day" for the county, which has about 1.1 million residents.
What the county wants to do there
The building still needs renovation, and the announcement gave no opening date. Commissioners plan to use it for a range of mental health services, including a jail diversion center, a place where people in a mental health crisis could be taken for treatment rather than booked into jail.
"This is just a first step," said Precinct 1 Commissioner Ryan Williams, who works in law enforcement. "We have to renovate this building and find the right partners." He said as many as 30% of people held in jail might benefit from such a center, and the county said diverting them could cut some of its related costs.
Separately, the county and the United Way of Denton County, along with cities in the county, paid most of the $75,000 cost of a strategic plan from the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute covering the facility's scope, operations and funding. The Cross Timbers Gazette reported that the county will also prepare a presentation for the 2027 legislative session to seek more money.
