Breaking Ground On New Behavioral Health Facility At College Hill
As the mental health crisis continues to grow in the region and across the nation, we are addressing the need for a continuum of care to improve outcomes with the groundbreaking for a new $99 million inpatient mental health facility in College Hill. The five-story facility will replace the current inpatient building on the College Hill campus.
Children and adolescents are struggling with unprecedented levels of depression, anxiety, mood disorders, post-traumatic stress, and other mental and behavioral health conditions. Mental illness is one of the most pressing health issues of our time, and it has been exacerbated with the isolation and the stressors associated with COVID-19.
“Cincinnati Children's has a deep commitment to mental health and a great inpatient facility and residential facility, but we're now transforming that to make sure it's got all of the right services, all of the right privacy and all of the right capabilities to continue providing the very best care,” said Michael Fisher, president and CEO. “As we point to the future, as a community and society, we have to prioritize education, prevention, treatment and even a cure for mental health disorders.”
The new five-story facility will replace the current inpatient building on the College Hill campus. Encompassing 160,000 square feet, the state-of-the-art facility will be 68 percent larger than the current one. The new building will include private rooms for all inpatients. That will enable families to spend more time on the units and even stay overnight with their child.
There will be dedicated spaces for group therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy and recreational therapy. The facility will also be the new home for expanded services for patients with neurodevelopment disorders. College Hill is part of a mental health system of care that seeks to identify and prevent more severe diseases.
The expansion is made possible through a $36 million gift from the Convalescent Hospital Fund for Children, which covers about one-third of the cost. Cincinnati Children’s operating revenues will cover another third of the project costs. An additional $36 million is still needed from philanthropic supporters in the community.