CINCINNATI — Construction is underway on a new mental health facility that will help dozens of children in crisis.
Cincinnati Children's first broke ground on its multi-million dollar behavioral health facility in May 2021. Dr. Suzanne Sampang guided WCPO through the grounds as it begins to take shape.
"There were psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses, we even got the input of our frontline staff who work and will be working in this space to get their input on what would be best," Sampang said. "We wanted to incorporate the whole campus as therapeutic space so we built a lot of safety features in so that the kids can have access to the whole campus including our green space."
The five-story inpatient facility in College Hill was built with an emphasis on prioritizing children and their families.
"In our current building we have some patients that had shared rooms and so that really limits the amount of time parents can spend with their kids in a lot of ways," Sampang said. "All of our rooms here in this new building are all private rooms, single rooms so parents can actually stay in with their kids and hopefully benefit from some parenting programs."
This facility is 68% bigger than the current campus, which allows for a larger cafeteria, a new partial hospital program, a true break room for staff and now two gyms.
"The work of kids is play," Sampang said.
Cincinnati Children's can take about 100 kids into inpatient behavioral health care. Doctors say they're one of the biggest providers in the country. The new facility will host dedicated spaces for different therapies, and Sampang said this facility will allow them to better serve children in the Tri-State.
"Cincinnati Children's has really made mental health a priority," she said. "And I think this great building is a testament to that."
The facility on Hamilton Avenue is slated to open later this year.
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