CNC Staff Writers
Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute (MBMHI) sits on prime real estate that most developers would love to have in their revenue-generating portfolios. The 64-year-old hospital is on land designated as a National Historic Landmark in the Moccasin Bend Archaeological District, which is filled with artifacts from both the Native American Trail of Tears and the Civil War.
Several interests are involved in the critically important decision to relocate the hospital to meet the needs of the mentally ill and cognitively challenged that require care in an institutionalized setting. Some interests are obvious. Others may be not-so-public interests influencing the decisions.
Questions linger as distrust builds, since information is difficult to obtain by our community. On the TN Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse (TDMHSA) website’s “Mental Health Milestones,” the very first milestone reads, “No State facility for the mentally ill in Tennessee. Care was responsibility of local communities included family care, jails, almshouses, poor houses” assigned to the dates of 1796-1840.
Now, 229 years later into Tennessee’s Statehood, the issue of inadequate mental healthcare facilities is still a pressing concern. MBMHI serves 52 counties–more than half of Tennessee’s 95 counties. Since 1961, the number of beds has increased from 150 to only 165 for adult psychiatric patients with “severe and persistent mental illness.”
The demand for mental health beds exceeds the supply. Rightfully, an effort is being made to expand and update MBMHI. According to TN State Building Commission (SBC) records, the request to approve the project “to construct a new replacement facility” was approved on September 14, 2023, with the 2022-23 Tennessee budget, including $260,000,000 for the project.
During that SBC meeting, the Department of General Services indicated that site selection was already underway seeking 80 acres with 40 prospective sites, many in Hamilton County but some in Bradley, McMinn, Monroe, Marion, and Sequatchie Counties. The 2023 minutes reveal that “the State-owned property at Moccasin Bend became the most advantageous real estate option,” or simply rebuilding on the existing site. That option was eliminated just a year after an archaeological study was published in November 2024 necessitating a location change.
What has happened since?
The SBC met again on January 9, 2025, and approved “the authority to act” by the “Executive Sub,” or Commission’s Executive Subcommittee (ESC) to now include land purchase and new construction of a replacement hospital. Chattanooga News Chronicle reviewed all meeting videos since January, yielding no publicly announced action, and raising questions as the next meeting approaches on June 23.
The public has not been updated as to the work of TN General Services in its site selection process, which now includes a 100-acre location just off Highway 153 driving toward Chattanooga State on Amnicola Highway. A second location mentioned is near Erlanger Medical Center and a third location is off 10th Street, after a 160-acre site in Eastdale near Tunnel Boulevard met neighborhood opposition.
The public is interested. Chattanooga’s three competing large health systems likely have opinions. The Chattanooga News Chronicle will continue providing information for you and your community.