New Children’s Psychiatric Hospital Could Improve Safety

Minnesota Department of Human Services Commissioner Emily Piper says legislators need to support a proposal to fund a new facility for a state-operated hospital that serves children and teens with mental health conditions, according to a press release from the department.

Gov. Mark Dayton proposed $7.53 million to construct a new 16-bed Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Services facility.

“Our staff are caring for kids experiencing significant mental health crises, and who are often physically aggressive, in a building with poor sightlines, dangerous stairways and unsafe bathrooms,” said Piper. “It’s time for lawmakers to support a new facility that is safe and gives our young patients a therapeutic environment for recovery.”

Piper says the state is working to extend the lease for the current facility that’s set to expire in June, but a long term solution needs to be found. The proposed new facility will give the program the flexibility to group patients in units appropriate to their ages or conditions as children are admitted or discharged.

The new Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Services facility is one of several projects Dayton has proposed to address safety issues at state-run psychiatric facilities.