Madison Health Care Provider Spending $11M To Expand Youth Mental Health Services

A rendering of the proposed expansion to UnityPoint Health-Meriter's psychiatric hospital. Image courtesy of UnityPoint Health-Meriter

A Madison health care provider is spending $11 million to help children cope. The Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Hospital run by UnityPoint Health-Meriter is expanding and will break ground on the city’s southwest side this fall.

The psychiatric hospital sees children as young as 6 up to age 18. It currently has 20 inpatient beds and has to turn away hundreds of children in the area who need mental health counseling. According to a press release from the health care provider, the number of youth needing inpatient treatment has jumped 77 percent in the last 10 years.

"We are now taking care of over 800 patients. So we know the need is out there," said Katie Schmitt, associate medical director of behavioral health at Meriter.

The remodel will add 10 beds specifically for children; the existing beds will be reserved for adolescents. UnityPoint Health-Meriter is also adding outpatient services.

"That’s really exciting because they are new services that we don’t have in the community," Schmitt said. "To be able to provide that level of care for kids is really something unique and different."

That includes day treatment where an adolescent would go in a few hours a day then go to school.

She says with younger children they typically see aggression issues and mood disorders as children get older.

"Where kids are struggling with depression, they are having thoughts about ending their life. A lot of kids come here after they’ve engaged in self-harm or have attempted to end their life," she said.

Wisconsin’s youth suicide rate has been higher than the national rate for decades.

Three years ago, the state Department of Public Instruction started the Wisconsin School Mental Health Project in 27 school districts to address that and other mental health issues.

Schmitt says they also see a lot of young people suffering from significant anxiety.

"So they may not be able to make it through a day of school. They can’t tolerate being at home. So this gives them a safe place to process that while they’re also getting treatment," said Schmitt.

UnityPoint Health-Meriter is working on the project in in partnership with UW.

"They’ve been very supportive of our expansion plans," Schmitt said. "We never could have done it without their support."

The Meriter Foundation will begin a capital campaign later this spring to raise a portion of the funding. The expansion is slated to open in fall 2019.