THE VALUED VOICE

Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Hospital to Grow Facility, Programs

UnityPoint Health® – Meriter® announced it will invest more than $11 million to improve behavioral health services aimed at children and teens in the region. The organization plans to add 10 inpatient beds to the UnityPoint Health – Meriter – Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Hospital, as well as critical outpatient services for kids and teens. The expansion is anticipated to open in fall 2019. Meriter will move ahead on the project as it works in partnership with UW Health to fully assess community needs.

The current hospital has 20 inpatient beds and turns away hundreds of children during the school year due to the lack of available beds. Meriter intends to improve the functionality of existing space by assigning its current 20 beds to adolescent care and adding 10 new beds specifically for children. It also plans to add key outpatient services in a new wing that can accommodate full-day and partial-day treatment programs for this same patient population, as well as provide evening community space.

Meriter plans to break ground for the expansion, which will double the footprint of its current site on the southwest side of Madison in fall 2018.