{"id":343830,"date":"2025-12-12T06:13:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T06:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/343830\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T06:13:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T06:13:10","slug":"lurie-expands-inpatient-psychiatric-unit-amid-ongoing-youth-mental-health-care-shortage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/343830\/","title":{"rendered":"Lurie expands inpatient psychiatric unit amid ongoing youth mental health care shortage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lurie Children\u2019s Hospital added four beds and 20 new staffers to the hospital\u2019s renovated inpatient psychiatric unit as a part of a statewide effort to address a major shortage of mental health care for Illinois kids in crisis.<\/p>\n

The beds are specifically tailored toward kids with autism, intellectual and developmental disabilities and significant behavioral health needs, said Heidi Mueller, the director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose young people need environments created with intention, dignity and safety,\u201d Mueller said during a Thursday morning event at Lurie unveiling the new beds. \u201cWe have seen over the past several years an explosion in the number of youth entering DCFS care with complex autism, with developmental needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

DCFS fully funded the construction of the $4.5 million addition. The hospital will start admitting patients to the new unit on Dec. 15.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Dana<\/p>\n

Dana Weiner (in blue), chief officer for Children\u2019s Behavioral Health Transformation in the Office of Gov. JB Pritzker, cuts the ribbon with Heidi E. Mueller, director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, at the hospital\u2019s expanded inpatient youth psychiatric unit. <\/p>\n

The new beds bring Lurie\u2019s total psychiatric bed count to 16. And while they will help address the need for kids with significant psychiatric needs, the extra beds can\u2019t fill the major dearth in psychiatric beds across the state.<\/p>\n

Only about 10% of all hospitals in Illinois \u2014 20 hospitals out of just over 200 \u2014 have psychiatric beds for children and teens, according to the most recent state data.<\/p>\n

Most are in the Chicago area, leading to families criss-crossing the state<\/a> competing for a bed. Most of the beds are in psychiatric facilities, not community hospitals. Inpatient psychiatric care is expensive, often costing hospitals more than they bring in, and can be difficult to staff.<\/p>\n

Mental health needs for kids have spiked significantly in recent years, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kids arriving in Illinois emergency rooms with suicidal thoughts climbed nearly 60% over a nearly six-year period ending in 2021, according to a study involving Lurie Children\u2019s Hospital. Many of those children linger in emergency rooms because there is no place to send them for care.<\/p>\n

The recent increase has \u201coutpaced the state\u2019s ability to respond,\u201d Mueller told the Sun-Times Thursday.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The renovated unit at Lurie has special rooms to meet kids\u2019 sensory needs. \u201cThere\u2019s really nowhere else in the state that\u2019s providing this level of care,\u201d said Lurie psychiatrist Aron Janssen. He said they want to disseminate what they learn across the state. <\/p>\n

Previous WBEZ investigations have revealed major gaps in the state\u2019s efforts to help kids with mental illness. In 2023, reporters found that a state program designed to help low-income children in mental health crisis was falling woefully short<\/a>. A major factor: There are not nearly enough places to send kids and teens in distress. Children with autism or aggressive behavior are particularly hard to place.<\/p>\n

The ongoing uncertainty about future Medicaid funding could further worsen the state\u2019s capacity crisis. Nearly 50% of all children in Illinois depend on Medicaid, according to the state<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dana Weiner, the chief officer for children\u2019s behavioral health transformation in Gov. JB Pritzker\u2019s office, said Thursday she had conducted a comprehensive analysis in 2022 to understand the challenges facing the state\u2019s child behavioral health system and figure out how to fix it.<\/p>\n

That work, she said, has involved streamlining access to services for families and developing practices that respond earlier to kids to avert crises and avoid the need for inpatient stays.<\/p>\n

In addition to the four beds, the renovated unit at Lurie has rooms designed for kids who are feeling both overstimulated and understimulated. The surfaces are soft and dampen sounds to help the patients from getting overwhelmed.<\/p>\n

The sensory \u201cgym\u201d is an empty room with a projector that lights up the floor with games kids can interact with, or project a calming, meditative image. There is also a secured, padded room for kids who get aggressive, agitated or are at risk of harming themselves or others.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/p>\n

Dr. John Walkup, chair of the Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, shows how to play a projected game in the gym of the expanded inpatient psychiatric unit at Lurie Children\u2019s.<\/p>\n

The new unit will also add 20 new staff who are trained to work with kids with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s really nowhere else in the state that\u2019s providing this level of care. That\u2019s why we built it,\u201d said Dr. Aron Janssen, a Lurie psychiatrist and the vice chair of clinical affairs. \u201cWe want to build the type of treatment and the type of environment, and then it is in our mission to disseminate what we\u2019ve learned across the state. We will train whoever wants to be trained.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mueller with DCFS told the Sun-Times the department plans to support similar efforts at other hospitals in the state, but did not provide specific details on any upcoming projects.<\/p>\n

Contributing: Kristen Schorsch<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"State<\/p>\n

State Rep. Lindsey LaPointe looks up at a ceiling twinkling with lights, which is part of the sensory room of the renovated inpatient psychiatric unit for youth with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities at Lurie Children\u2019s. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lurie Children\u2019s Hospital added four beds and 20 new staffers to the hospital\u2019s renovated inpatient psychiatric unit as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[97,259,260],"class_list":{"0":"post-343830","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-mental-health","10":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/343831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}