Kaweah Health filed plans with the city in early June to expand the Kaweah Health Mental Hospital on Akers Street, adding another 22 beds.
The facility will add 12,500 square feet to the existing 63-bed, 24,000-square-foot building and is expected to open in 2026, Chief Strategy Officer Marc Mertz said.
Targeting mental healthcare for children and youth from the area, last year, Kaweah Health was awarded $8.7 million by the Department of Healthcare Services to bring inpatient adolescent psychiatric care to the community.
"Sadly, one of the downfalls of the pandemic was that it brought an exponential rise in the need for mental health services," CEO Gary Herbst said.
Projections expect over 1,000 young people in a three-year period could receive care at the new facility.
"Our community, and the entire nation, is facing a mental health crisis. This has been fueled, in part, by the impact the pandemic had on individuals," Mertz said. "Our youth have perhaps been the most affected. Kaweah Health is excited to be able to bring the child and adolescent inpatient mental health beds, as well as the upcoming child and adolescent crisis stabilization unit, to our community."
State funding enabled Kaweah Health to build these facilities. Mertz added that the projects were also aided by the existence of the child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship program led by Dr. Cory Jaques.
"This program, which is part of our broader graduate medical education (GME) program, graduated its first three child and adolescent psychiatrists this week," Mertz said. "We are thrilled to say that all three will remain in the Valley to start their careers caring for patients.”
The graduate program brings future doctors to this area, severely short on physicians, nurses and healthcare technicians with130 residents and fellows in training right now in multiple fields. Since its inception, nearly 45% of the graduates from the program have remained in the Valley after graduation.
Kaweah Health’s Mental Health Hospital, which offers adult inpatient psychiatric services, was originally built with three wings. However, it was designed so that a fourth wing could be added as needed. Of the 22-bed expansion, 14 beds will be for adolescents, while eight will be for children. Care will be given regardless of insurance status or ability to pay, but in light of the demand for such services across the Central Valley, children who live in Tulare County will receive preferential access.
Inside the hospital, child/adolescent patients will receive nursing care and work with psychiatrists and licensed therapists. They will undergo complete psychosocial assessments, multidisciplinary treatment, and individual, group, and family therapy.
Additionally, patients will work with recreational therapists, registered nurses or licensed psychiatric technicians to receive health education and a special education teacher to ensure that education time is not lost while hospitalized.
Kaweah Health will contract with Tulare County Mental Health Services for the admission of children and adolescents and expects that due to the demand for child mental health services in the valley, the service will be profitable by the end of the second year. It will also help children have better behavioral health outcomes close to home, which will also save patient families time and money.
This is the second grant Kaweah Health has received recently to improve access to mental health services for children and adolescents in Tulare County.
Last year, Tulare County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) and Kaweah Health were awarded a $4.9 million grant from the California Health Facilities Financing Authority to create a child and adolescent Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSU). The 12-bed CSU will provide crisis intervention services for children and youth under the age of 21, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
“Children who need care are currently brought to the emergency room when they are in crisis. The ER can be a relatively chaotic place and relatively scary, especially for younger children,” Jaques said. “These two projects will change child mental health here in Tulare County.”
Kaweah Health will staff the mental health hospital for youth and the CSU thanks in part to its Graduate Medical Education Psychiatry Residency program, added in 2013, and a new Child and Adolescent fellowship added to the program in 2021. The Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Training Program’s mission is to train child and adolescent psychiatrists who will positively impact the health of youth and their families in the Central Valley.
The expansion will also bring jobs to the area.
The facility currently has 36 employees during the day shift and 72 total between all shifts. The 22-bed expansion would result in an increase of approximately 18 employees during the day shift and 39 total between all shifts.
