Tennessee seeks $20 million to build a mental health facility in Knoxville, addressing a critical shortage of inpatient treatment beds in the region.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services asked Governor Bill Lee for $20 million to build an inpatient mental health facility in Knoxville during a budget hearing earlier this month. 

Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Commissioner Marie Williams said the request was a response to Jillian’s Law, which allows the state to commit certain criminal defendants for inpatient treatment involuntarily.

“We really are struggling with beds,” Williams told the governor. 

In 2012, the Tennessee Department of Mental Health announced it would close the state-run institute in Knox County at Lakeshore Park. Leaders at the time argued that mental healthcare was trending away from inpatient care facilities. 

The closure also made the nearest state-run facility to Knox County, the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute, located in the Chattanooga area.

Williams cited a study from 2024 that found Knoxville needs a 100-bed psychiatric hospital and requests from the Knox County delegation as the reason for the request. 

She said they don’t plan to use new state money and instead use funds from the mental health trust fund. Of the $20 million proposal, $12 million would be non-recurring.

“We know that this will be a tight year, we’re very aware of that,” Williams said. “However, we believe with these proposals this year, we stand ready with our behavioral health providers, consumers, family-faith-based organization, and hospital teams to take additional strides toward our vision of seeing all Tennesseans living with behavioral health challenges thriving.”

Williams said the McNabb Center was the only organization to respond to a proposal to run an inpatient facility a few years back. 

During the Nov. 25 Knoxville City Council meeting, Councilmember Andrew Roberto provided an update on the funding proposal, calling it a “fantastic development.”

“I think everybody wants to see a return of a mental health hospital in our community and we all need to be talking to our representatives about making sure that this actually gets funded in the budget,” he said. 

Back in 2023, Knox County Commissioner Kyle Ward sent a letter to Governor Bill Lee asking the state to redirect money from a proposed pedestrian bridge over the Tennessee River to an inpatient mental care hospital in Knox County. 

“The hospital will serve as a regional center for mental health in the region as well,” Ward said. “We could do more preventative care and we can have better access for our local citizens.”

Senators Becky Massey and Richard Briggs (R – Knoxville) have also pushed for the new facility.Â