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About Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center

Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center Outdoor Seating Area

Overview

The John S. Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center at UTHealth Houston offers individualized inpatient treatment options for a variety of behavioral health disorders. Our treatment plans include a continuum of comprehensive services during an acute mental health care crisis, as well as ongoing care.

  • 24-hour Assessments and Admissions
  • Board-certified Physicians and Licensed Professional Staff
  • Discharge Planning and Collaboration with Providers
  • Medication Management
  • Family Education and Counseling

Treatment Options
With our long-established presence in the Houston community and a new state-of-the-art facility, we are passionate about providing the highest quality of care. We offer individualized care, with treatment options and services providing a continuum of care, allowing us to provide ongoing care to the patient after they leave our campus. The physicians and psychologists at the Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center are members of the faculty at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston and provide the highest quality of inpatient care in a new state-of-the-art facility and after you leave our campus.

Treatment plans at the Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center are always evidence-based and designed to help you achieve the best possible outcomes for healing. Treatments are guided by the latest innovations and research, so patients can be confident in their providers and recovery plan.

The Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center accepts most major insurance plans, Medicare, and Medicaid.


Our History

During the 85th Legislative Session, in the spring of 2017, the Texas Legislature appropriated $126 million for the construction of what has now been named the John S. Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center at UTHealth Houston. This 264-bed psychiatric hospital constitutes a unique partnership between the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). Owned by HHSC the hospital is governed and operated by UTHealth Houston. The funding for this project, initiated by the Legislature and approved by Governor Abbott, was part of a large initiative to improve behavioral healthcare across the state.

The John S. Dunn Foundation made a transformative $25 million commitment to UTHealth Houston to bolster the university's behavioral health initiatives and address significant gaps in mental health care services in our communities.

In honor of the Dunn Foundation's gift, UTHealth Houston established the John S. Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center to support innovative behavioral health research, education, and patient care. The new academic psychiatric hospital and the nearby UTHealth Houston Harris County Psychiatric Center combine to create the UTHealth Houston Behavioral Sciences Campus and the largest academic psychiatric hospital in the country with 538 beds.
The Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center


Your Team

Your team at the Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center provides patient-centered treatments, while also advancing the field of behavioral health through scientific discovery and training the next generation of mental health care leaders.

As part of the UTHealth Houston Behavioral Sciences Campus—the largest academic psychiatric campus in the United States—and as a teaching hospital of the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, your care is led by a multidisciplinary team of nationally recognized physicians, psychologists, and licensed professionals. Our teams have deep expertise across the full spectrum of behavioral disorders and are dedicated to delivering the best care possible.
Meet Our Team


Notice of Nondiscrimination

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (“UTHealth Houston”) and UT Physicians comply with applicable Federal civil rights laws and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex. UTHealth Houston and UT Physicians do not exclude people or treat them less favorably because of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.

UTHealth Houston and UT Physicians:

  • Provide people with disabilities reasonable modifications and free appropriate auxiliary aids and services to communicate effectively with us, such as:
    • Qualified sign language interpreters.
    • Written information in other formats (large print, audio, accessible electronic formats, other formats).
  • Provide free language assistance services to people whose primary language is not English, which may include:
    • Qualified interpreters
    • Information written in other languages.

If you need reasonable modifications, appropriate auxiliary aids and services, or language assistance services, contact clinic staff.

If you believe that UTHealth Houston or UT Physicians has failed to provide these services or discriminated in another way on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex, you can file a grievance with: University Relations & Equal Opportunity, Section 1557 Coordinator, 7000 Fannin, Suite 150, Houston, Texas 77030, 713-500-2255, or by email at [email protected]. You can file a grievance in person or by mail, phone, or email. If you need help filing a grievance, the University Relations & Equal Opportunity, Section 1557 Coordinator is available to help you.

You can also file a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, electronically through the Office for Civil Rights Complaint Portal, available at https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/portal/lobby.jsf, or by mail or phone at:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

200 Independence Avenue, SW

Room 509F, HHH Building

Washington, D.C. 20201

1-800-368-1019, 800-537-7697 (TDD)

Complaint forms are available at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/office/file/index.html.


Contact Us

Call 713-500-1500 to connect with one of our experienced behavioral health experts. We are available on-site 24/7 to talk with you.

If you are in a mental health crisis and in need of immediate help, please call 988 or seek care at your closest emergency room.