A new day treatment center in Southern Utah is addressing a critical need in mental health care for children.
The Intermountain St. George Regional Hospital Day Treatment Center is at a converted home at 409 E. 500 South.
It's a partial hospitalization program, meaning it provides intensive care and skill building to kids five days a week, each day for the length of a typical school day.
Morgan Saxton talked with Behavioral Health Crisis & Clinical Services Manager Ryan Hall who says at the end of each day, participants go home to use the skills they learned with their family.
The course of the treatment is up to 15 days, with the length of stay determined by the youth, their parents, and the program team.
Enhancing behavioral health services for children is part of Intermountain Health's Primary Promise to create the nation's model health system for children, and based on significant need.
In the past decade, emergency departments at Intermountain Health hospitals in Utah recorded a 300 percent increase in pediatric mental health crises.
In 2022, St. George Regional Hospital treated about 1,000 patients for mental health reasons alone.
Suicide is the leading cause of death for Utah youth ages 10 to 17.
An estimated 40 percent of children who have depression are not getting care.
Last year, 43 percent of Utah youth who felt sad, hopeless, or suicidal reported that they did not talk to anyone about it.
The new Partial Hospitalization Program addresses a gap in behavioral health services.
The program is more intensive than an hourlong outpatient visit with a therapist, and yet not as intense as mental health crisis hospitalization services.
Program participants will receive care from a multi-disciplinary team, including mental health therapists, doctors, and nurses.
You can learn more at intermountainhealth.org.
