KUTV — The following information was submitted by Intermountain Health.
Intermountain Children’s Health is expanding critically needed mental health services for children and teens in crisis.
The new Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital Behavioral Health Center is a 90,000-square-foot facility under construction in Taylorsville, on the hospital’s Wasatch Canyons campus. It opens in 2025.
The new center will include:
- A nearly 50 percent increase in inpatient beds
- A walk-in-crisis center
- The state’s first dedicated behavioral health inpatient unit to provide mental health crisis care tailored for youth with autism and neuro-diverse needs
- Family-centered behavioral healthcare, including the ability for parents to stay overnight
- Outpatient spaces designed for more intensive outpatient treatment, day treatment, and group therapy programs.
- The new center also will house current Primary Children’s behavioral health services, which include:
- The Stabilization and Mobile Response program team, which responds to homes in moments of need to help stabilize children in crisis (1-833-SAFE-FAM).
- The statewide Assessment, Referral, Consultation Service (ARCS) free service line at 801-313-7711, which helps connect young children and teens to services close to their communities.
“Children and teens throughout the Intermountain region, like their national peers, are facing a mental health crisis. That’s why the resources that will be provided in this new facility are so critical,” said Amanda Choudhary, senior director of pediatric behavioral health at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital.
We want children and families to know that more help is on the way.
One in five 3-to-17-year-olds nationally face a mental, emotional, developmental, or behavioral disorder. Suicide remains a leading cause of death for Utah youth. Last year, 43 percent of Utah youth who felt sad, hopeless, or suicidal reported that they did not talk to anyone about it.
Construction began on the $96 million center in Taylorsville, Utah, sooner than anticipated, thanks to $25 million in funding from the state of Utah, and generous community support of Primary Promise, Intermountain’s historic campaign to build the nation’s model health system for children. The final beam was placed on the structure on June 26, marking a major construction milestone. The building will open next year.
Amanda spoke to Kari Hawker-Diaz about this new facility and how it will help families in Utah.
Philanthropic support is still needed to help complete the new facility, help more children grow up stronger, and even save lives. To learn more or to make a gift, visit intermountainhealthcare.org/foundation/primary-promise.
If you or a loved one is in crisis, free support is available through the Utah Crisis Line at 988.
More information about pediatric behavioral health services is available at primarychildrens.org/behavioralhealth.
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