Hospital to address mental health crisis, faces opposition

Hospital to address mental health crisis, faces opposition

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) – St. Louis Children’s Hospital is partnering with behavioral health provider, KVC Missouri, to build a new behavioral health hospital in Webster Groves. The project includes an inpatient hospital and outpatient mental health services.

Trish Lollo is president of St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

“One of the things that’s most important about this project is that it is going to save children’s lives,” she said.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for 10 to 14-year-olds in Missouri The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports 13% of adolescents ages 12 to 17 nationwide reported having serious thoughts of suicide in 2022.

“The need for children’s mental health services is tremendous. Kids are hurting, families are hurting. There are not enough resources in the community to provide the services that kids need,” said Lindsey Stephenson, president of KVC Missouri.

The new planned facilities would be built at KVC’s current Webster Groves campus where it operates a K-12 therapeutic school and provides outpatient clinical mental health services. The project still needs approval from the Webster Groves planning commission and city council.

The project faces strong opposition from residents who live nearby who are worried about traffic and safety concerns. Another concern is that the project might change the fundamental character of the neighborhood. Jared Cohen lives nearby.

“I’m a physician as well and I’m no stranger to this population which with it for no fault of the patients, or their family members or their caretakers of them, comes with an inherent risk,” he said.

Stephenson said St. Louis Children’s Hospital and KVC have heard neighbor’s concerns and assures them the two are experts at providing behavioral care for children and adolescents.

“And it is really our mission to make sure we work through those concerns and create the safest and most secure environment for our kids and our staff and for the community in which we live.

The KVC campus has been the site of various forms of care for children, dating back 100 years. Lollo said the hospital would be a one-story building that’s unlike a typical hospital and that it needs to be located in the part of a community where the children are surrounded by green space.

“It is intended to be a serene environment in which children can heal,” she said.

The project is scheduled to be voted on by the Webster Groves City Plan Commission. If approved, it would still need the approval of the city council.

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