MDNews - Greater Kansas

August/September 2018

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K VC HOSPITALS INC. PL ANS TO OPEN A CHILDREN'S PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL IN WICHITA IN E ARLY 2019, AF TER SEEING HIGH ADMISSION R ATES FROM WICHITAŸARE A CHILDREN AT ITS OTHER T WO K ANSA S HOSPITALS. " T HER E 'S A G R E AT demand for our services, sadly," says Michelle Lawrence, Vice President for KVC Health Systems, a private, nonprofit organization that provides services in behavioral health care and child welfare. KVC Hospitals is part of KVC Health Systems, which is headquartered in the greater Kansas City area and serves the midsection of America with locations in Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Kentucky and West Virginia. L a s t y e a r , K V C H o s p i t a l s served 3,492 children between the ages of 6 a nd 18 at its K VC Pra irie R idge Hospita l in Kansas City, Kansas, and its KVC Wheatland Hospita l in Hays, Kansas. The children hospitalized strug- gle with suicidal thoughts, depression, anxiety, trauma and substance abuse. Of the children hospitalized at KVC's two Kansas locations last year, 691 came from the Wichita area, Lawrence notes. The new 54-bed hospital in Wichita w i l l have t he pot ent ia l t o ser ve up to 2,800 children annua lly, Lawrence estimates. Patient data from Sedgwick and Johnson counties, which are Kansas' most populated counties, show high, ris- ing rates of youth suicide in those areas, Lawrence says. The hospital will be located in the for- mer Kansas Orthopedic Center at 1507 W. 21st St. N. The 30,000-square-foot facility KVC Hospitals to Open Wichita Children's Psychiatric Hospital BY AMY GEISZLERšJONES will be renovated and expanded. The Wichita hospital, which is expected to have about 150 to 200 employees, will provide acute inpatient services only. Prov iders in the Wichita a nd sur- rounding a rea had approached K VC hospita l officia ls about considering a Wichita location because of the need for children's psychiatric services closer to home, Law rence says. Admission referrals from Wichita-area providers to KVC's other Kansas hospitals reflect the growing need . Wichita has one other inpatient psy- chiatric center — Via Christi Behavioral Health Center, which serves both adult and 12- to 17-year-old patients . It also has an outpatient program. KVC hospitals serve patients ages 6 to 18. According to the KVC website, its acute hospitalization program provides: + i n t e n s i v e p s y c h i a t r i c c a r e a n d medication management + i n d i v i d u a l , f a m i l y a n d g r o u p therapy services + case coordination services + pediatric assessment and treatment + 24-hour support and supervision from trained behavioral health nursing sta– With a goa l of achiev ing long-term outcomes, K VC uses more experientia l t herapy prov ided t hroug h resi lience centers at its hospita ls. It 's a treatment model K VC ha s been ref ining for the past f ive yea rs, Lawrence says. Within the resilience center, children lea rn to become more self-awa re a nd how to better reg ulate both their emo- tions a nd their bodies. They work on executive function skills like problem- solving, prioritizing, orga nizing a pla n a nd getting sta r ted. Through teaching self-protection skills and helping youth identif y high-risk situations, the model is intended to improve inter persona l sa fet y skills. The therapy helps not on ly address the acute ca re needs of the chi ld, but a lso provides long-term menta l hea lth ma na gement by bui lding up a chi ld's ski l ls to ha nd le high-risk situations, L a w r e n c e e x p l a i n s . Fo r e x a m p l e , by doi n g physica l exercise ch i ld ren w i l l ex per ience a nd u nder s t a nd a n increa sed hea r t rate, which a lso ca n be a s y mpt om of a n x iet y or fea r. By recog nizi ng physica l a nd emotiona l symptoms, the children can then employ techniques lea rned in therapy to help address those symptoms. "KVC will help thousands of children build healthier brains and greater resil- ience every year," Lawrence says. ■ M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S G R E AT E R K A N S A S ■ 2 018 0 9

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