POTTER COUNTY, Texas — Potter County Judge Nancy Tanner has long told us one of the stickiest problems in her county has been the lack of a long term mental health hospital.
Fast-forward to summer 2023 and help is finally on the way.
“We’ve got $159 million in the bank and we’re going to build a hospital and I’m thrilled to death,” Tanner told us on Inside Texas Politics.
Lawmakers found $4 billion to help tackle the mental health crisis facing Texas.
Potter County received $159 Million of those dollars for its own facility.
Tanner says the county already has seven acres of donated land to build on. But state officials think more land may be needed and will visit Amarillo to make that determination. And the state will ultimately hire the architect.
The hospital will house 75 beds, 50 of which the state will require to be forensic beds -- those that can be used by inmates.
The need is massive in Potter County.
Tanner holds mental health hearings for 25 of the 26 counties in the Panhandle. And when she sends someone to a state hospital, the closest one is at least 200 miles, nearly four hours, to the south.
She says, even then, there’s rarely a bed available.
A new hospital in Amarillo, the county seat, will immediately change everything.
“So, with these beds, we will have that luxury of signing an order and taking them to that hospital that very same day," she said. "That thrills me to death."
There is no timetable yet for when the building might be completed.
As for Tanner, next year marks a decade since she was first elected as the first female county judge in Potter County.
Now in her third term, she says there won’t be a fourth… she thinks.
“I’ve already decided I’m going to retire in 3.5 years. But I’ve already had people come up and go ‘please don’t, please don’t, please stay.’ So, we’ll see. Ask me again in about three years and I’ll let you know,” she told us smiling.