San Diego-based Rady Children's Hospital will create a pediatric psychiatric emergency department, believed to be the first in the nation, thanks to more than $6 million in donations, according to The San Diego Union Tribune.
The hospital plans to establish a new wing, called the Copley Psychiatric Emergency Department, in the existing ED, which will be staffed 24 hours with physicians, nurses and counselors.
Hospital officials decided to establish a psychiatric unit for children due to the significant increase in the number of children coming to the hospital with mental health needs.
"Five years ago we were averaging something like 40 psychiatric emergency patients a month. Now we're seeing between 300 and 400 a month," Benjamin Maxwell, MD, Rady's medical director of children and adolescent psychiatry services, told The San Diego Union Tribune.
The new ward was named in honor of a $5 million donation from the David C. Copley Foundation. Another $1 million in donations came from a fundraising event on Sept. 9.
The donations will also help the hospital hire additional pediatric psychiatrists and counselors for the new ward.