In one of its final acts after closing, IntraCare North Hospital has made a $1.6 million gift to the University of Houston to help prepare the next generation of behavioral health professionals serving communities in Houston and across Texas.
“This gift reflects a powerful way an organization can extend its impact,” said Russell T. Dunlavy, UH vice president for advancement and alumni. “It allows the University to carry forward the commitment IntraCare has made through education in ways that will continue to grow over time.”
The gift from IntraCare, a former psychiatric and behavioral health hospital in Houston, will fund new academic expansion and long-term endowed scholarships at both the UH Graduate College of Social Work and the Andy & Barbara Gessner College of Nursing.
“As we close this chapter for IntraCare, our Board felt a deep responsibility to ensure our mission lives on,” said Deo Shanker, former president of IntraCare North Hospital. “This investment reflects our commitment to the communities we have served and to the future professionals who will continue that care.”
The gift comes at a critical time. Texas faces one of the nation’s most severe shortages of behavioral health professionals. According to the Health and Human Services Commission Health Profession Shortage Area maps, 246 out of 254 counties in Texas are designated as mental health professional shortage areas.
Global support of social work
At the Graduate College of Social Work, the gift will establish the IntraCare Behavioral Health Social Work Endowment, providing long term scholarship support for future students entering the field. It will also support the Global Leaders of Behavioral Health Education program, a training program that prepares social workers to provide mental health services in integrated healthcare settings where medical and mental health services are delivered together.
“Since 2025, IntraCare has supported our GLOBE interprofessional behavioral health training program, helping expand the number of social workers delivering behavioral health services across the region,” said Yarneccia D. Dyson, dean and Maconda Brown O'Connor Endowed Dean's Chair of the UH Graduate College of Social Work. “We appreciate their foresight in establishing an endowment that reaches into the future to provide ongoing support as we carry out the mission to train the next generation of social workers and behavioral health professionals.”
New nursing master’s degree
At the Andy & Barbara Gessner College of Nursing, the gift will support development and launch of the Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner track within the Master of Science in Nursing program.
“Mental health nurses are in critically short supply in Texas and across the country,” said Kathryn Tart, RN, founding dean of the Gessner College of Nursing. “By establishing a $100,000 endowment to support scholarships, the donors are addressing a critical gap in this field, with estimates of a shortfall of over 250,000 mental health nurses as of 2025.”
The University of Houston has made health a strategic priority, recognizing the urgent need to expand access, innovation and capacity across behavioral and mental health disciplines. By investing in both advanced nursing education and social work training, the IntraCare gift supports the preparation of highly skilled professionals who will serve Houston and Texas in clinical, community and leadership roles.
The gift also supports Can’t Stop Houston: The Centennial Campaign , UH’s fundraising initiative focused on expanding opportunities for students, advancing research, supporting centennial grounds transformation and strengthening the University’s impact as it prepares for its next 100 years.