A new stand-alone facility is dedicated to providing pediatric behavioral healthcare locally.
Akron Children’s Behavioral Health has opened at 1027 S. Trimble Road. It will bring most of the signature programs and services currently available only at the hospital’s main campus closer to families in need.
“This has been a long-time coming,” said Doug Straight, service line director for Behavioral Health.
Akron Children’s opened a branch in Mansfield in 2019. “It was identified at that point and time that we needed more (behavioral health) services in Richland County,” Straight said.
The new facility will address children and teens diagnosed with depression, anxiety and other concerns.
“What we bring to the table is the higher acuity programming,” Straight said.
He referenced the partial hospitalization program, which starts in September. It is an intensive psychiatric service for ages 12-18 that uses cognitive behavioral therapy and other evidence-based programming to help stabilize participants’ mental status and teach coping skills.
Clients will come to Akron Children’s five days a week from 8 a.m. until 2 or 2:30 p.m. They don’t go to school, but the rooms can be used as a school setting. Lockers will be available for books and school work.
“Patients that are hospitalized need that support as they transition back into home,” Straight said.
Akron Children’s also will offer intensive outpatient programming, where participants will come to the center three days a week for three hours at a time. Sessions will be held in the evening.
There will be staff at the facility who can prescribe medication as well.
Media takes tour of Akron Children’s Behavioral Health
Straight and Dr. Eva Szigethy, director of pediatric psychiatry and psychology and the Lois C. Orr Endowed Chair in Pediatric Psychiatry at Akron Children’s, led a media tour of the new facility on Tuesday morning.
“The big-picture framing is we really have to transfer how we deliver healthcare,” Szigethy said. “Right now, we are providing crisis reactive care.”
She talked about the advantages of having a regional center in Mansfield. In addition to keeping clients close to home, Szigethy said there will be opportunities for strengthening relationships with primary care pediatric offices in the area.
“It is critical for us to tackle problems like anxiety and depression in general and to provide immediate, helpful services for families who have a child in behavioral health crisis,” she said. “Ultimately, our goal is to prevent the need for higher acuity care by early behavioral health screening and intervention in both pediatric offices and in behavioral centers like this one.”
Teens requiring in-patient hospitalization for a behavioral health concerns still will go to Akron.
During the tour, Straight pointed out how the interior of the facility was designed “through the eyes of a child.”
“We wanted it to feel inviting, nonthreatening,” he said.
Several group rooms have plenty of natural light and can be converted to a classroom. The walls are decorated with artwork from area students.
Straight said an outdoor area is his favorite part of the new location. A high fence is for privacy, not to keep clients from leaving.
Prior to the tour, Straight and Szigethy addressed the media, along with Jeff and Donna Heck, who started 33 Forever in 2019 after their daughter Danielle took her own life.
The Hecks are some of the lead donors for the new facility.
“We are so excited and proud to be able to partner with Akron Children’s. We know how much of a difference this will make in our community,” Jeff Heck said. “It’s going to help so many young people and families.”
He said Danielle made her first suicide attempt at 15.
Akron Children’s Hospital helped Heck family
“We were clueless. Akron Children’s was an incredible resource for us,” Jeff Heck said. “She was admitted up there. We had tremendous support and care for her.
“This is really sort of a full circle moment for us.”
Donna Heck personalized their involvement in the project.
“These guys have a heart for kids and mental health like I have never seen. It’s a labor of love,” she said of staff at Akron Children’s. “They saved Dani for five or six years, for sure.”
That’s a reason why staff members want to make sure clients have a “human experience” during their treatment.
“We’re only as good as our repeat customers,” Szigethy said. “If our patients don’t come back, we can’t help them.”
Straight emphasized that Akron Children’s wants to collaborate with primary care offices in the area.
“When they hear Akron Children’s, they think of an 800-pound gorilla,” he said. “We will not pull staff from other facilities.”
Straight said Akron Children’s will add to the workforce here, pointing out the facility has not hired “one clinical staff member” from the immediate area.
Parents are encouraged to discuss concerns with their child’s pediatrician to see if referrals are appropriate. Self-referrals are also welcome by calling 330-543-5015.
mcaudill@gannett.com
419-521-7219
Twitter: @MarkCau32059251
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Children and teens to receive behavioral health care at new facility
