In our state and across the country, there is a significant gap in behavioral and mental healthcare services, especially for children and teenagers. Children’s Hospital New Orleans knew it has a duty to fill that gap, and in April 2020, the hospital opened its new 51-bed, 70,000-squarefoot Behavioral Health Center.
The new center is not only larger and more updated than the previous 39-bed unit Children’s Hospital’s Behavioral Health Center has operated out of since 2007, but this space, with its bright colors, natural light, and spacious rooms, is truly an environment that promotes healing. The new Behavioral Health Center at 210 State Street is among the largest and most comprehensive pediatric programs in the nation, serving patients from across the Gulf South.
The comprehensive center is dedicated to serving children and adolescents with a wide range of mental and behavioral health disorders. The $25 million project is located on Children’s Hospital’s main campus, a short walk away from the hospital’s Emergency Department, where patients are first seen and evaluated for admission to the Behavioral Health Center, if necessary.
The Center
While the beautiful, spacious building is impressive in its own right, its what’s happening on the inside that is the most important. The Center offers acute inpatient behavioral health treatment in a safe, structured, and nurturing environment for kids and teens from seven to 17 years old. The program focuses on teaching and empowering each patient to develop healthy life skills to improve function, coping, and future quality of life.
The 51-bed inpatient unit serves as a treatment center for children experiencing severe depression, anxiety, and mood disorders. Using an interdisciplinary model of care, social workers, recreational therapists, and music therapists work with psychiatrists to develop customized treatment plans for each child. The center’s increased capacity allows for an additional 650 patients to be treated annually, in addition to an expanded outpatient psychiatry program that will more than double its capacity with more than 2,000 visits per year. Outpatient services, including assessment and treatment of psychiatric and behavioral disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and mood disturbance, are also provided at the new center.
The Behavioral Health Center at Children’s Hospital was made possible with the support of the Goldring Family Foundation and the Woldenberg Foundation, who contributed $2 million to Behavioral Health services through their support of Children’s Hospital’s capital campaign.
