Three health systems have each put nine figures behind behavioral health, and two of them already have results to show for it.
The spending stretches across the full continuum of care: new inpatient beds, dedicated psychiatric emergency space, outpatient follow-up and crisis response. The systems are also measuring returns in unconventional terms. Leaders are pointing less to revenue and more to ED capacity, staff safety and how many patients stay out of crisis care.
“We decided as an enterprise and an institution that behavioral health was pediatric health, and while it did not necessarily have the same ROI or make money as other areas did, it was our responsibility to help fix it in the community,” Stephanie Meyer, chief nurse executive and COO of acute care at Children’s Mercy, told Becker’s.
Here are three investments to know:
1. Atrium Health: $340 million
Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health will put $340 million toward behavioral health over the next five years. The centerpiece turns an existing facility in the city’s University City neighborhood into a behavioral health hospital with 168 inpatient beds for children and adults, adding 102 beds to the system’s capacity. Because the project skips ground-up construction, Atrium expects to open the hospital in 2028, a year to a year and a half sooner than a new build would allow. The plan also funds a dedicated behavioral health ED, an expanded crisis stabilization unit, growth in the system’s psychiatry residency and adolescent psychiatry fellowship, and a new addiction fellowship. The need keeps rising. Behavioral health ED visits across the system are up 13% over six years, and children made up roughly a quarter of them last year.
2. Children’s Mercy: $150 million
Kansas City, Mo.-based Children’s Mercy reached the $150 million goal of its Illuminate campaign in March 2026, more than two years ahead of schedule, with support from more than 5,000 donors. The five-year effort spans 14 projects. One of them is an Emergency Mental Health Crisis Center, which has added an average of 78 ED bed-hours per day. Since the center opened, staff injuries have fallen more than 58%. Physical restraint use also dropped by about half, from 43 instances to 21 across comparable periods. The system’s Path Clinic picks up after discharge, and 97% of its patients have not returned to the crisis center while under its care.
3. UCHealth: $150 million
Aurora, Colo.-based UCHealth committed $150 million to behavioral health in 2019, and the system has since served 188,000 behavioral health patients. The investment added a 40-bed inpatient unit at University of Colorado Hospital and a 50-bed unit at Fort Collins-based Poudre Valley Hospital. It also brought behavioral health services into more than 60 primary care clinics. Through partnerships with nine law enforcement agencies, more than 85% of 14,000 behavioral health calls have been resolved without an arrest or an ED visit. Elicia Bunch, vice president of behavioral health, said models like these need payer support to be sustainable long term.
At the Becker's Fall Behavioral Health Summit, taking place November 4–5 in Chicago, behavioral health leaders and executives will explore strategies for expanding access to care, integrating services, addressing workforce challenges and leveraging innovation to improve outcomes across the behavioral health continuum. Apply for complimentary registration now.
