Jefferson City, MO–Gov. Jay Nixon said today that the agreement by legislators to back his plan to rebuild Missouri’s only maximum-security psychiatric facility in Fulton will strengthen public safety across the state. The House and Senate budget conference committee announced today that the Fiscal Year 2015 budget would follow the Governor’s recommendation for a strategic bond issuance to replace the crumbling and dangerous Fulton State Mental Hospital. The Governor urged the House and Senate to pass this vital portion of the budget and send it to his desk.
“Rebuilding Missouri’s only maximum-security psychiatric facility will improve treatment for patients, protect those who care for them, and strengthen public safety across the state,” Gov. Nixon said. “Since I first proposed a strategic bond issuance to address the needs in Fulton, bipartisan support for replacing this crumbling and dangerous facility has continued to grow. I want to thank the members of the conference committee for answering my call to move forward on this critical and long-overdue public safety priority in a fiscally responsible way that will benefit patients, caregivers and our communities. The next step is for the full House and Senate to pass this budget measure and send it for my signature.”
Gov. Nixon proposed a targeted bond issuance for the construction of a new Fulton State Mental Hospital in his 2013 State of the State Address. The Governor again called for the construction of a new Fulton State Mental Hospital in his 2014 State of the State Address.
Gov. Nixon’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget included the funds for a strategic bond issuance to support the construction of a new maximum and intermediate security psychiatric facility in Fulton that will be safer and more conducive to modern treatment. In Fiscal Year 2014, the legislature appropriated $13 million to begin the planning and design process.
Last month, the Governor announced the selection of the lead design firm for the project. The qualifications-based selection process conducted by the Office of Administration’s Facilities Management, Design and Construction Division resulted in the selection of Parsons Brinckerhoff, a global consulting firm with offices in St. Louis which assists public and private clients to plan, design, construct and maintain thousands of critical infrastructure projects around the world. Upon final completion of contract negotiations with Parsons Brinckerhoff, work will begin on the planning and design of the new hospital. Construction of the facility is expected to begin in the late spring/early summer of 2015 and be completed in 2016.
According to studies previously commissioned by the Legislature and other projections by the Office of Administration, the cost of this new facility will be $211 million. The Missouri Department of Economic Development estimates that a $211 million project could create more than 2,500 jobs during its construction.
Opened in 1851, Fulton State Hospital is the oldest state psychiatric hospital west of the Mississippi River and houses the state’s only maximum security psychiatric facility. The Biggs Forensic Center at Fulton treats patients with serious mental illness who are committed by Missouri courts for evaluation and treatment related to a crime, or who have seriously assaulted patients or staff in other state psychiatric hospitals. Since 2007, Fulton State Hospital has taken in more than 1,000 admissions from 99 Missouri counties and the City of St. Louis.
The final report of the Senate Interim Committee on Capital Improvement Assessment and Planning, issued on Dec. 1, recommended that the Legislature fund renovations and new construction needed for improvements at Fulton State Hospital and identified this issue as one of the state’s top priorities for capital improvement.