HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — WellStone is one step closer to providing an inpatient mental health crisis care center for children and teens. Construction crews broke ground this week on the 24-bed, 12,000 sq. ft. facility, which will be the first of its kind in Madison County and adjacent to WellStone Emergency Services (WES).
WellStone says the addition will provide stabilization, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up care for children and adolescents experiencing severe depression, extreme anxiety, suicidal ideation, self-harm, and other mental health-related crises close to home. Every year, HEMSI transports more than 800 children out of Madison County—and sometimes out of state—for inpatient psychiatric care. About half go to Decatur West in Morgan County; the other half go wherever space is available. Patients can wait hours, and sometimes days, for a bed.
“Everyone agrees that children in our community need and deserve compassionate inpatient care without having to travel far from home,” said Jeremy Blair, WellStone CEO. “WES is already making a huge difference for adults. We urgently need to do the same for children.”
The US remains in a National State of Emergency in child and adolescent mental health. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for children ages 10 to 14, and last week, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy announced to Congress, "...our kids can’t afford to wait" for mental healthcare resources. The pediatric wing is scheduled for completion in late 2024. It will serve children and adolescents in Madison County and surrounding communities. Individuals can support this transformational project by donating to WellStone’s “Be the Rock” capital campaign.
"Would you believe that Huntsville, Alabama's largest city, does not have an inpatient psychiatric care center for children? That is ridiculous and that is a shame," said WellStone's Director of Development, Karen Petersen.
WellStone opened up its crisis center for adults in September of last year... But the key word there; is adults. It can be a frustratingly long journey for those trying to care for a child.
Shannon Neblett's daughter needed mental health care recently, and the best option for her was all the way in LaVergne, Tenn.
"We could see a psychiatrist in about six or seven months, and this was a 14-year-old girl who needed help right then," Neblett recalled. "I cried all the way home every time I left her. But I spent each day, 8 hours on the road for the little time that I was able to spend with her and again, to gain all the parent education."
All that changes come late 2024 when WellStone is set to open the doors to Madison County's first inpatient mental health center for children.
All the way up to 17 years of age, if they are suffering from any type of a mental health emergency, once this place is built, they will be able to come here," said Petersen.
As mentioned earlier, about half of the local children who need mental health hospitalization go to Decatur West in Morgan County; the other half go wherever space is available.
Both of these instances have happened to JJ Jayne and her granddaughter, both of which live right here in Huntsville.
"Last year, she was living with us and she had a hospitalization in February, but we were able to get into Decatur West. In May, she had another one, so we had to wait in the pediatric E.R. For over 24 hours and then the closest bed was in Luverne, Alabama, which is 4 hours one way," said JJ Jayne, local grandmother.
According to the CDC, nearly 15% of children in the united states were treated for mental health disorders in 2021, further proving that mental health crises aren't exclusive to adults.
"I absolutely think that it is much more common in children than people realize. I think that it can be something that, like for our granddaughter was caused by trauma and so it just kind of came out of the blue. It wasn't something that we had on our agenda. It's not something she was born with. It's not something we could have identified. And we had to do the hospital stay because we couldn't get in with a child psychiatrist anywhere in the area. There was a six-month wait, so you have no other option and families don't know what to do. But if you have a child that says they're going to hurt themselves or someone else or being aggressive, then you need help immediately. You don't have time to wait on waiting lists," said Jayne.
This new facility geared towards the mental wellness of local youth will help bring peace of mind to local parents.
"Having a brand new building that is close to us that we are hoping that we don't have to use but know that it's going to be there soon and that other parents that might say, 'no, I won't send my child four hours away' and not get the help, will at least have an option of something closer where they can get their child help as soon as they need it," said Jayne.