The Harris County (Texas) Commissioners Court voted March 13 to purchase the shuttered Riverside General Hospital in Houston and plan to convert the facility to serve mental health needs, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The county received a $5.3 million grant from Houston Endowment to purchase the property, which was Houston's first nonprofit hospital for black patients. The Third Ward area it serves has long suffered from a lack of behavioral health resources, and in its final years, the hospital was embroiled by mismanagement and fraud scandals before closing in April 2015.
The county still requires approval from a federal bankruptcy judge to purchase the property, and there is a hearing scheduled for March 15.
"At this point in negotiations, we are unable to comment on specifics regarding Riverside General Hospital, other than to say that we hope Houston Endowment can play a role in returning this asset to the community — both Third Ward and the larger community," Catherine Butsch Villarreal, the Houston Endowment director of communications, told the Houston Chronicle. "We are working with community stakeholders on the best way to do so."