Children’s Hospital Announces Plan to Build State-of-the-art Behavioral Health Center; Behavioral Health Services to Move to the State Street Campus

Press Release

NEW ORLEANS – Today, Children’s Hospital announced plans to construct a new Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Center on its State Street campus. Designs include a new building with 50 bed capacity to be constructed on space that currently serves as a parking lot. Plans honor height and historical restrictions currently in place. Construction is slated to begin in late Spring 2018, with completion projected for Fall 2019.

Children’s Hospital’s current Behavioral Health unit, with 34 beds, is located on the Calhoun Street campus. This new construction not only offers Children’s Hospital the opportunity to create a state-of-the-art facility, it enables the hospital to continue its commitment to the State of Louisiana to offer the very best in behavioral health treatment for children and adolescents.

“Children’s hospitals across the nation are struggling to meet the demands of child and adolescent behavioral health,” said John Nickens IV, president and CEO of Children’s Hospital. “When construction is complete, what Children’s Hospital in New Orleans will offer in terms of behavioral health will be among the best in the entire nation, completely state-of-the-art, making us one of a few industry leaders in terms of this type of care.”

The current Behavioral Health Center offers acute inpatient treatment specifically designed to meet the needs of children ages 8 to 12, with a separate adolescent unit for teens ages 13 to 17. Patients admitted to the program are experiencing acute psychiatric and emotional symptoms that are interfering with their ability to function at home, school and in their social environments. Patients are treated in a safe and carefully structured environment by a multidisciplinary team comprised of child and adolescent psychiatrists, pediatricians, psychiatric nurses, psychologists, social workers, certified recreational therapists and mental health technicians.

“This is a patient population in great need of the very best care we can offer, and our hospital community is excited for the future of Children’s Hospital’s Behavioral Health Center,” said Elwood Cahill, chairman of the Children’s Hospital Board of Trustees. “We are dedicated to the mission of providing mental healthcare services to children and adolescents throughout Louisiana and the Gulf South. As we continue to transform our main hospital campus, adding this new building will allow us to provide the most effective treatment that our patients and their families desire and deserve.” 

The goals of treatment are not only to address and improve a patient’s acute psychiatric symptoms, but to also provide each child with core skills and resources to assist with their ongoing health and well-being following discharge. To this end, expert diagnostic evaluations and treatments including specialized workbooks, medications, therapeutic interventions and educational resources are provided in a nurturing and supportive atmosphere. The team at Children’s Hospital strives to collaborate on all levels with patients, their families and outpatient resources to achieve the highest possible outcomes.

Children’s Hospital acquired the Calhoun Campus (formerly DePaul Hospital), bordered by Audubon Park’s Exposition Boulevard, Henry Clay Avenue, Camp Street, and Perrier Street, in 2007. Calhoun Street intersects the site. In addition to the Behavioral Health Center, the Calhoun Campus is home to Children’s Hospital’s Rapid Treatment Program, The Autism Center, the Audrey Hepburn Children at Risk Evaluation (CARE) Center, Medical Records and The Parenting Center.

The 17-acre State Street campus, formerly the home of New Orleans Adolescent Hospital, was acquired by Children’s Hospital from the State of Louisiana in February 2014. The former hospital is now home to LCMC Health’s corporate headquarters, and various administrative offices of Children’s Hospital.

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About Children’s Hospital New Orleans

Children’s Hospital is a 247-bed, not-for-profit regional medical center offering the most advanced pediatric care to children from birth to 21 years. With more than 400 physicians trained in more than 40 subspecialties, it is the only full-service hospital exclusively for children in Louisiana and the Gulf South. www.chnola.org
 

About LCMC Health LCMC Health is a Louisiana-based, non-profit healthcare system serving the needs of the people of Louisiana, the Gulf South and beyond. Our mission is to enhance the health of the communities we serve by delivering high quality healthcare services to all patients through a commitment to clinical excellence, education, technology and research. www.lcmchealth.org