MANSFIELD -- Akron Children’s Hospital will open a pediatric behavioral health center in Mansfield in early 2023, the third location in the hospital system’s plan to expand child and adolescent behavioral health services throughout the region. Construction is now underway.
The 10,000 square foot center, which will offer outpatient behavioral health services for children and teens ages 5 to 18, will be located next to the Akron Children’s Hospital Health Center, at 1027 Trimble Rd.
“Given the acute shortage of youth behavioral health professionals throughout the region and beyond, we plan to staff the facility with child and adolescent psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, and mental health therapists, enhancing access to those highly specialized services locally,” said Dr. Steven Jewell, Lois C. Orr Endowed Chair of the Division of Pediatric Psychiatry and Psychology at Akron Children’s.
“Our goal in bringing this facility to Richland County is not to compete with locally-available resources, but instead to collaborate with existing providers in the county, plugging gaps in available services.”
According to a 2021 U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory, Protecting Youth Mental Health, “even before the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health challenges were the leading cause of disability and poor life outcomes in young people, with up to 1 in 5 children ages 3 to 17 having a reported mental, emotional, developmental or behavioral health disorder.”
The report cites significant increases in adolescent visits to ERs for depression and anxiety, as well as youth suicide since 2007. The report also notes that of the nearly 8 million children with a treatable mental health disorder, about half did not receive adequate treatment.
Akron Children’s opened the first of the planned pediatric behavioral health centers on its Mahoning Valley campus in 2019, and recently announced plans for an adolescent behavioral health center in Canton.
Other locations will be considered based on community needs, especially as Akron Children’s expands its population-health focused Akron Children’s Health Collaborative, which aims to be proactive in identifying children’s health care needs to provide early intervention and care coordination.
In-demand programs like Akron Children’s Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) and Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) will be offered in Mansfield.
IOP is an intensive, multi-disciplinary group therapy program for 12- to 18-year-old patients, offered three evenings a week for three to four weeks.
PHP helps teens develop healthy coping skills and stabilize their mental health status. The program includes family therapy, goal setting and an opportunity to keep up with schoolwork. Teens spend all day in the program and are home in time for dinner. They typically participate in the program for two weeks or more.
It can be used as a “step down” program after discharge from Akron Children’s 24-bed inpatient behavioral health unit or used as an intervention to prevent the need for hospitalization.
The hope, noted Dr. Jewell, is to intervene early to prevent a behavioral health crisis and costly ER visits and hospitalization.
Providers at the Mansfield location will be able to prescribe and manage psychiatric medicines for conditions like ADHD, depression and anxiety.
The location will also offer pediatric psychologists who can offer support to children living with chronic illnesses like diabetes and cystic fibrosis.
“We appreciate the support of government officials in bringing these services to their community,” said Dr. Jewell. “Having specialized care like this close to home can make all the difference for families.”
Critical funding for expansion of Akron Children’s behavioral health services is being made possible through the federal American Rescue Plan Act, and $400,000 for the Mansfield construction was included in the Ohio State Capital Budget.
