Missouri officials have selected a company to design plans for a new facility at the Fulton State Hospital campus.
The hospital is the state's only maximum-security psychiatric facility and is the oldest public mental health facility west of the Mississippi River. Patients include those committed by the courts for evaluation and treatment, and people found not guilty or unable to stand trial because of mental disease.
Gov. Jay Nixon said Monday that Parsons Brinckerhoff was chosen as the lead design firm. The New York-based global consulting firm has offices in St. Louis.
Construction of a new facility is expected to start next summer and be completed in 2016. The current year's state budget has $13 million to start the planning and design process.