Menninger Raises $16 Million

3/2/17

A new $16 million outpatient and education center at The Menninger Clinic, funded entirely with philanthropic gifts, will help to address the community’s unmet needs for mental health care and education, Menninger President and CEO Dr. C. Edward Coffey, said today. Construction of the 25,000-square-foot building will begin this fall with the opening slated for fall 2018.

For this capital campaign, more than 150 local, state and national donors contributed to the outpatient and education center, as well as all of The Menninger Clinic’s Board of Directors and its senior leadership team. Lead donors include The Cullen Foundation, The Elkins Foundation, Hackett Family Foundation, Barbara and Corbin J. Robertson Jr., The Fondren Foundation, and Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation.

“One in every four adults has a mental illness, yet access to treatment remains an obstacle for one in five of those adults,” said Maureen O. Hackett, who chaired the capital campaign and is chair of The Menninger Foundation Board. “Increasing our capacity for more mental health providers is a vital step toward getting these individuals help when they need it most without lengthy wait times. We are grateful that so many donors recognized this need.”

Menninger’s new building will address the community’s needs for ready access to outpatient services for all ages and for specialty team-based comprehensive psychiatric assessments, one of Menninger’s signature services throughout its 92-year history. “Construction of the Outpatient Services and Education Center will allow for more individuals and families to benefit from getting the right care from the right professionals at the right time,” Coffey said. “Outpatient care initiates lasting change, resulting in high value for the individuals and their families, as well as in fewer crisis hospitalizations.”

Expansion of outpatient services will provide timely and convenient treatment and assessment to a greater number of children and adults. “Once the building is completed, we will be equipped to nearly triple the number of annual outpatient visits,” said Dr. Jonathan Stevens, Menninger’s chief of outpatient services and chief of child and adolescent psychiatry.

Having a larger number of outpatient professionals will also offer more continuity of treatment for inpatients after they discharge from any of Menninger’s five specialty adolescent and adult programs. The single-story, easily accessible location will provide much-needed space for more individual, group and family therapy, assessments and consultations as well as remote access to Menninger specialists for outpatients outside Greater Houston via secure teleconferencing.

Menninger’s one-and-a-half-year-old Center for Brain Stimulation will be housed in the new building as well. Demand continues to grow for these quick, effective brain stimulation therapies for serious mental illnesses such as severe, recurrent depression. Transcranial magnetic stimulation, electroconvulsive therapy and ketamine infusion therapy can be provided on an outpatient basis with optimal patient experiences to reduce anxiety and enhance therapeutic benefit.

In addition, the new building will support Menninger’s academic mission and affiliation with Baylor College of Medicine. The Center for Brain Research will identify precision treatment for each patient, including outpatients, allowing Menninger to expand its research focus to identify therapies that get patients feeling better and returning to their fullest capacity sooner. “Our outpatients will have the opportunity to participate in our research studies and educational activities, which are proven to support wellness and recovery,” Stevens added.

The education and conference center addresses Menninger’s shortage of space for professional continuing education, family education, public programs and other community events. Designed for flexibility, the 300-seat center will be able to host small meetings or larger auditorium events. It will also be used by Baylor College of Medicine faculty and trainees who frequent the Menninger campus for clinical and classroom training.

Houston-based Kirksey Architecture is leading the project’s design.

A Texas Medical Center institution, Menninger relocated to its current $53 million campus at 12301 Main St. southwest of the Texas Medical Center in May 2012. For more information, visit www.MenningerClinic.com

About The Menninger Clinic

For 27 consecutive years, The Menninger Clinic has been named a national Best Hospital in psychiatry by U.S. News & World Report in its annual survey of psychiatrists nationwide. Menninger’s mental health care system has become known for its expert team-based diagnostic assessment s and specialty treatment during its 92-year history. Innovative, personalized treatment approaches at Menninger continue to increase value for Texans and people nationwide to access the care that best meets their needs. Menninger is a private teaching hospital of Baylor College of Medicine’s Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, and is a member institution in the Texas Medical Center.

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