DAYTON — Dayton Children’s is getting ready to open its new youth mental health facility.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 5:30 p.m., Dayton Children’s is celebrating their brand new mental health center.
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It is set to open in July, and cost more than $100 million to build.
“We were really seeing a need, mental health need and the need for more access,” Kelly Blankenship, a Psychiatrist at Dayton Children’s, said.
It took about an hour to get through the tour of the three-floor Mathile Center.
There are 48 rooms, doubling the hospital’s capacity. There are also several multi-purpose rooms and outdoor spaces, and a lot of natural light.
It’s geared toward promoting positive mental health for their patients.
“Our full mental health campaign is to work with the community to make sure that our kids have whatever care they need,” Blankenship said.
Patient safety is also a big focus at the Mathile Center.
The furniture is weighted so it can’t be picked up, and the glass is shatterproof.
There are even special doors for each room. To keep patients from barricading themselves, a lever can be pushed to make the door open out into the hallway instead of into the room.
Each individual door costs $10,000. The architect of the center told News Center 7’s Mason Fletcher that each room easily costs $100,000.
Dayton Children’s CEO Debbie Feldman said it’s a testament to how much they care about young people in the Miami Valley.
“Youth mental health services? State children’s is an absolute top priority. We identified it as one of our five pillars of our strategic plan,” Feldman said.
Patients also have a furry friend to keep them company.
Piper, a golden retriever, is at the hospital every day for 40 hours a week.
“We’ve noticed that when Piper is there, the child is a lot less likely to need medications to help from quarantining restraint,” Blankenship said.
Dayton Children’s plans to welcome patients to their first floor on July 15th, and plan to open the second floor next January.
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