FRESNO, CA (KMJ) – Valley Children’s announces the construction of a Behavioral health facility, in conjunction with Universal Health Services to address a critical healthcare need.
Gone are the days where children on a 5150 hold will have to find help out of town.
“We are thrilled to announce that Universal Health Services, one of the national most respected acute and behavioral health hospital organizations will be constructing and operating a new behavioral health facility right here on the campus of Valley Children’s in Madera,” said Valley Children’s CEO Todd Suntrapak.
A new partnership with @UHS_Inc was announced addressing one of the most significant healthcare needs in the region. pic.twitter.com/ch1nMNz5OX
— Valley Children’s (@CareForKids) September 18, 2019
Suntrapak says 250 will be employed at the facility and its designed to offer direct services to the community, to serve both adults, and children.
VCH Website: California continues to face a shortage for inpatient behavioral health beds for adults — and the shortage of inpatient services for children ages 5 to 17 is even more pronounced.
The Treatment Advocacy Center, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating barriers to the timely and effective treatment of severe mental illness, recommends one inpatient bed per every 2,000 residents.
There are an estimated 39,536,653 people living in California.¹ With only 6,777 inpatient beds for those in need of behavioral health services, there is one bed for every 5,834 people and one inpatient bed per every 8,905 child or adolescent.²
In our 12-country service area, this shortage continues to be emphasized. There are 929,436 children between the ages of 6 to 17 residing in the Central Valley and only 49 current beds. That means there is one bed for every 18,968 child or adolescent.¹ ²
Now when the new 81,600-square-foot facility is finished there will be 128-beds with 24 beds designated for pediatric psychiatric care.
Construction of the new hospital begins in 2020 with a goal of opening in 2022.
Click to hear the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern:
Citations
1. Population data from US Census Bureau and KidsData.org.
2. Data from OSHPD 2017 reports
