Pediatric hospital in Macon adds more space for kids in mental health crisis

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A new pediatric behavioral health unit just opened in Macon. It’s part of an effort to meet the mental health needs of children in the region.

Credit: childrenshospitalnh.org

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death for Georgia children between ages 10 through 17.

While attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, and adjustment disorders accounted for the most visits and mental health insurance spending between January 2019 and August 2022, suicide was the third leading cause of death in 2021 for Georgians between 10 and 34 years old, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC reported a total of 1,676 deaths by suicide. That number is likely an undercount due to issues with reporting on death certificates. 

Alarmingly, the firearms suicide rate among Black teenagers nationwide surpassed the rate for white teenagers for the first time on record in 2022, according to a July data analysis by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions. 

And so the Atrium Health Navicent Beverly Knight Olson Children’s Hospital in Macon recently opened a unit for pediatric behavioral health.

It's the only dedicated pediatric hospital in central and South Georgia.

• MORE: An increase in child suicide highlights the urgent need for mental health services

Now, the hospital has expanded its availability for pediatric behavioral health services, said Dr. John Wood, the medical director at Atrium Health Services Adult and Pediatric Emergency departments.  

He said this new, three-bed unit is part of their 112-bed children’s hospital. It's just the start of a necessary expansion in access to mental health care services.

"I think our entire state could use additional mental health resources," Wood said. "And I know this is being addressed at the state level through multiple different means, but no, we don't think we have enough to meet the entire need that we have."

When someone ends up in the emergency department, the first step is to make sure that everyone is safe: the patient, the parents, and the health care providers, he said. Afterward, the child is stabilized in the emergency department, and there may be changes in medications or referral to facilities with outpatient counseling or outpatient therapy to meet whatever needs they they have.

It’s a challenge for pediatricians to manage behavioral health, and a psychiatrist is ideal to manage psychiatric medications, Wood said.

Fortunately, with increased access to telehealth services, the hospital has 24-hour psychiatric consultation availability.

"Just like our adult population, children suffer from depression, anxiety," Wood said. "Children have the same spectrum of mental illnesses. And so we really needed a nice, safe space to both provide, you know, quality and and adequate care for those patients. So that's kind of why we developed the behavioral health unit in our children's emergency department."