In a move he described as tectonic, the president of Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters said the health system will expand its mental-health footprint in the community with a proposal for a $50 million psychiatric center.
The hospital must get state approval before moving forward, but president and CEO Jim Dahling said CHKD is committed to embracing what its community surveys have shown to be the No. 1 health concern: mental health services for children.
Three to five children a day arrive in the hospital’s emergency room in need of a mental health evaluation, a number that has increased by 40 percent during the past four years, according to CHKD.
