Money allocated to expand Griffin Memorial; alternative sites considered
Sep. 30—If the governor signs a bill to expand services at Griffin Memorial Hospital, the question for Normanites will be: Will it stay in the city?
The Oklahoma Legislature on Thursday passed House Bill 1013 to appropriate $125 million in American Rescue Plan Act money to rebuild Griffin Memorial Hospital, currently in Norman, and the Tulsa Center for Behavioral Health.
The bill puts $87 million toward the Griffin Memorial replacement, which will ultimately cost $137 million, according to an Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse.
Set to be completed by spring 2026, the hospital will be a "state-of-the-art facility" with 330 beds for patients undergoing rehabilitation, physician services, medication and therapy, said Jeffrey Dismukes, communication director at the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. That is 100 more beds than the current hospital.
The bill requires the Griffin Memorial replacement be built within 30 miles of the Oklahoma Capitol, meaning it will either be in or near the Oklahoma City metro area. Norman is within this radius.
"Our concern is that it's a hospital that meets the needs of Oklahomans and really works to expand our capability statewide," Dismukes said.
He confirmed Thursday that officials have discussed the Norman Veterans Center, Oklahoma State University's Oklahoma City campus, the University of Oklahoma Health in Oklahoma City, the Norman Regional Health Center, state land at 900 E. Main St. that currently holds the hospital, and state land at 24th Avenue NW and West Robinson Street in Norman to possibly hold the center.
City Manager Darrel Pyle anticipates the hospital probably wouldn't be built on the current site, as the state would need to keep that hospital running until it could transition its patients and services to the new building.
Pyle said he's "sure some folks would be alarmed and concerned from the local government's perspective" if the hospital were to move.
"There are 700 employees that work at Griffin, because it's a 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week operation, and our concern would be, 'Where do those payroll dollars go if the facility is located somewhere outside Norman?'" he said.
The state announced in April that it was securing the land that currently holds Griffin Memorial for future development.
The announcement derailed ongoing city talks to establish a homeless shelter on the property.
Cleveland County District 1 Commissioner Rod Cleveland said the move could free up the land for commercial use.
Pyle said he's grateful there's time before the state decides where the hospital goes.
"We're going to keep our eyes open, keep our ears open. If decisions are made and Griffin winds up moving somewhere, we won't be caught flat-footed," he said.
Dismukes on Thursday spoke highly of the mission of the new hospital.
"When you look at the cancer centers that are out there, the heart centers that are being built everywhere, there's not always a big, beautiful center for behavioral health, and we have talked about that for a number of years — about elevating the status of behavioral health and understanding the importance that quality behavioral health plays in our state to grow," Dismukes said. "Certainly, it's something our communities are needing."
