MetroCare, Dallas County’s largest mental health services provider, is expanding its reach with the opening of a new Oak Cliff clinic, allowing it to serve more than 13,000 more people.
In response to growing demand for mental health care, MetroCare plans to open a new Mental Health and Disability Innovation Centre on its Hillside Campus in late 2025.
“It’s an unfortunate reality that marginalized communities – particularly low-income families, people of color and those with cognitive or intellectual disabilities – are often relegated to substandard facilities and told to settle for less than they deserve,” CEO John Burruss said.
MetroCare serves all individuals, regardless of ability to pay. In 2023, MetroCare served 51,031 children, youth, and adults, providing an average of 2,758 clinical encounters per day.
The 45,000-square-foot mental health clinic will provide comprehensive care for children, adults, families, veterans and individuals with disabilities, while an adjacent 98,000-square-foot customer service building will consolidate MetroCare’s countywide operations, including training and research.
“We know there is an important connection between a person’s physical environment and their mental health,” Burruss said. “These state-of-the-art facilities will be crucial in eradicating the stigma and stigma that have plagued public mental health care for so long.”
Burruss said the Dallas County community is long overdue for an investment in mental health services. The Hillside campus will feature bright, open spaces for clinical services, outdoor therapy areas for children, serenity gardens, outdoor terraces and nature views for clients and staff.
MetroCare is asking for the community’s help to raise the $9.4 million needed for a $25 million capital campaign to build a new campus.
Inflationary pressures have caused the estimated cost of the project to rise from $65 million to more than $96 million, according to MetroCare.
MetroCare clinics across Dallas County offer some services, but not all services are available at all locations, and the Hillside campus will be the first to offer all services.
“In MetroCare’s 57-year history, we’ve never seen anything like this,” said Tamesha Y. Cass, chief philanthropy and diversity officer. “We see this as a place of healing.”
Cass said creating a one-stop campus in the south Dallas community is a big equity project for MetroCare. The new location will expand access to mental health services to underserved communities.
Workers have spent more than 200,000 hours building the campus, which is about 30 percent complete, said Kevin Boyd, MetroCare’s chief facilities planning and construction officer.
“Especially over the next 25 years, the population of Dallas and the Metroplex is expected to grow, which means more people will need our help,” he said, “so we designed this space to be flexible.”
The customer service building will have an eligibility unit on the first floor, several parking floors and administrative offices on the second floor. The top-floor offices overlook the downtown skyline and are located atop the highest natural elevation in Dallas, Boyd said.
A full pharmacy separates the pediatric and adult departments. The west wing of the clinic is used to serve children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. During play therapy, children can ride on the indoor bike track.
The pediatric and adolescent clinic, which will be located at the Hillside campus, typically sees about 120 children per day, totaling 14,000 children per year. At its 30 sites across Dallas County, MetroCare conducts between 2,800 and 3,000 clinical consultations daily, Cass said.
“People come to us for a variety of reasons,” Cass said.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the mental health crisis and placed permanent strain on local resources.
MetroCare is facing an unprecedented surge in demand for mental health services, and the expansion of services at the new Hillside campus will increase MetroCare’s capacity to serve the community by 23 percent, allowing approximately 13,000 people, including 5,000 children, to receive services annually.
