Oklahoma's mental health agency has purchased a vacant hospital in south OKC that will replace Norman's Griffin Memorial Hospital , which is one of Oklahoma's inpatient hospitals for mental health services and has been in use for more than a century.

The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services will spend $18.5 million to purchase the property and another $41.5 million for upgrades and renovations.

ODMHSAS will renovate the former SSM Health hospital at SW 59 and Penn in phases. The agency expects the first 32 inpatient mental health beds to be available for use by the end of December as operations in Norman begin to wind down. Norman city officials haven't yet decided what to do with the property once the ODMHSAS moves out.

Overall, the new OKC facility

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