TGH opens new mental health facility focused on education and care
Tampa General Hospital’s Behavioral Health Hospital is the first academic-based facility of its kind in Florida.
Located in Tampa’s medical district, the facility opened in March with 96 inpatient beds and 24/7 personalized care.
CEO Doug Leonardo said it was very important to open a separate hospital specialized in mental health.
“Being a free-standing psychiatric hospital, everybody in this building, all they do all day long, is behavioral health,” Leonardo said. “That’s all they think about.”
Leonardo said all workers at the hospital are trained in mental health procedures.
“Patients coming here will get a very dedicated experience from a behavioral health standpoint with providers and practitioners who are really specialists in what they do,” he said.
Leonardo said outpatient and partial hospitalization services will be added later this year.
Education is a core part of the hospital’s mission. To accomplish this, USF students and medical residents will be trained in the facility.
“This is a way to provide an environment where students can come in and learn from others who are leaders in the field to support the need for additional access to psychiatry in and around the Tampa Bay area,” Leonardo said.
Leonardo said it is “really fortunate” that the hospital is designed to teach students and is designated as a behavioral health teaching facility.
With mental health needs rising, Leonardo said the hospital marks a major step toward expanding care and supporting families across Florida.
“Individuals who may be a danger to themselves or others are eligible to come in here to be evaluated and then potentially admitted to help stabilize their psychiatric condition,” Leonardo said.
Then, physicians and therapists can begin to work on a treatment plan to help the patient.
Leonardo said being able to have conversations about mental health helps reduce stigma about an illness that is “still somewhat of a mystery” to a lot of people.
“Anytime we can increase access for this population, it’s significant,” he said. “It’s really no different than heart disease or any other. It’s just it’s impacting a different part of the body.”
Credits:
Anchor: Tatyana Purifoy
Reporter: Debora Gruenberg
Web Editor: Clara Rokita Garcia
Producer: Carter Timmons
Camera: Sam Poulin
Audio: Karli Kibbee
Teleprompter: Clara Rokita Garcia
Editor: Paula Sanchez Ruiz and Luana Martins
Graduate Assistant: Grace Ficara
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Stephanie Anderson