Mary Greeley Medical Center dissolves adolescent behavioral unit

Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames, Iowa, in early January stopped admitting children into its inpatient adolescent behavioral health unit to accommodate demand for more of those services by adults, according to WHOtv.com.

"Our adolescent unit runs at about 40 percent compared to our adult unit that runs at about 80 percent occupancy," said Christy Krause, director of behavioral health services at Mary Greeley, according to the report.

As of Feb. 1, Mary Greeley is transitioning 18 beds for adult mental health inpatients.

Ms. Krause said hospitals across Iowa are facing increasing demand for adult inpatient behavioral health beds. "It's not enough. In any given month we field between 160 and 280 calls for beds. For every adolescent who calls we get three adults who need beds," she said, according to the report.

Mary Greeley Medical Center plans to recommend its adolescent patients seek behavioral healthcare services from other Des Moines metro area hospitals, which have about one-forth of the state's combined total of more than 700 inpatient mental health beds.

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