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Dallas County’s chief mental health care provider is nearly out of money.
According to a Dallas County Commissioner’s meeting last week, Metrocare, the Dallas nonprofit that serves 50,000 people each year, could be weeks away from financial collapse. But on Monday, the Parkland Hospital Board of Managers discussed a deal that would grant Metrocare $18 million in funding, while giving the hospital greater oversight of the nonprofit’s finances.
In a meeting Monday, the board agreed to negotiate a bailout with Metrocare. The details still need to be signed off on by the board if the nonprofit approves it internally. Metrocare spokesperson Kennedy Newbanks declined to comment on the deal, citing the need for the nonprofit’s board to review and discuss the terms first.
Concerns over Metrocare’s financial situation mounted last week when Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins warned the nonprofit would hit a “cash pinch-point” by the end of the month if $10-15 million wasn’t secured. As reported by WFAA, Jenkins suggested that the partnership with Parkland Hospital could serve as a lifeline for Metrocare, and stated that he believes “if Metrocare continues with the same management, then they are not going to succeed.”
“I believe it is an emergency,” Jenkins said. “If we don’t get this resolved soon, then we’re going to run out of options here. At stake is people losing their mental health providers, and we cannot let that happen.”
Recurring financial problems have plagued the nonprofit. In part, lower insurance reimbursements and internal financial mismanagement have led to this year’s deficit. According to a statement Newbanks gave to The Dallas Morning News, the difference between the nonprofit’s assets and liabilities decreased by $25 million in 2025, and revenue has fallen short while personnel costs have increased.
The financial crisis also comes as Metrocare navigates a leadership transition. In the spring, both the nonprofit’s CEO and CFO left the organization, and interim leaders are currently filling the roles.
In the agreement discussed by the Parkland Board on Monday, the hospital acknowledged significant overlap in the communities Metrocare and the hospital serve. It specified that any money given to the nonprofit by the hospital must be used for items such as payroll, vendor payments and the development of a financial turnaround plan. It also demands that financial and operational records be turned over to the hospital for audit.
Still, not everyone in Dallas County is convinced the hospital’s oversight of the nonprofit is the path forward.
Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price argued that he is not willing to “saddle” the hospital with the organization, and said that the organization’s “mismanagement’ is its own problem that it should be left to solve, even if that leads to the healthcare provider filing for bankruptcy. For some, that’s a nonstarter.
“If Metrocare was to fail, it would have a profound negative effect on not only Dallas County and Parkland but even on the jail,” Vincent Hall, Parkland’s board chair, told The Dallas Morning News.
