Community Partnerships: Improving Behavioral Health Access for Virginia’s Youth

50% of all lifetime mental illness begin by age 14, and 75% appear by 24. Identifying and treating these illnesses early in life, typically before formal diagnosis, can change the trajectory of a person’s health. To better meet the needs of their community Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters (CHKD) engaged in an initiative to transform pediatric mental health services through dedication and partnerships.

Young people are experiencing mental health emergencies at record rates, with one in five children aged 12-17 living with a serious mental health condition. Suicide is also a leading cause of death in in people aged 15-19. The pandemic has only exacerbated this crisis, putting tremendous pressure on primary care pediatricians and emergency departments that serve children and adolescents. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 50% of all lifetime mental illness begin by age 14, and 75% appear by 24. Identifying and treating these illnesses early in life, typically before formal diagnosis, can change the trajectory of a person’s health.

Mental health emergencies are especially challenging in areas with limited mental health resources. Norfolk, Virginia, home of Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters (CHKD), used to fit that description, but over the past five years, the hospital has engaged in an initiative to transform pediatric mental health services. This includes a new 60-bed pediatric mental health hospital that will open for inpatient care in October of 2022. The new facility, called Children’s Pavilion, is the hub for the comprehensive continuum of pediatric mental health services that CHKD is building. The pediatric health system has also hired 19 child and adolescent psychiatrists, 10 psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners, and dozens of nurses, therapists and support staff needed to improve access to care.

To achieve this level of growth over a five-year period, CHKD built awareness and support from a wide range of stakeholders, including Board members and community leaders as well as the hospital’s internal constituents of pediatricians and support staff members. Their actions are relevant and replicable for other communities faced with gaps to fill in mental health care.

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