Health systems looking to open new behavioral health hospitals can face opposition from neighbors, KFF Health News and Fortune reported April 9.
Over the past 10 years, proposed psychiatric facilities for children in at least six states have faced resistance from local communities. This resistance is often rooted in stigma, Fortune reported, with neighbors associating the hospitals with violence or unpredictable behavior.
St. Louis (Mo.) Children’s and KVC Missouri, a behavioral health provider, proposed a 65-bed inpatient center in Webster Groves, Mo. Neighbors opposed the site, with some saying that introducing a hospital would undermine the neighborhood’s “character,” Fortune reported, while others cited security concerns.
Webster Groves leaders eventually approved the plans for the hospital, Fortune reported, but stigma persists. Some neighbors advocate for placing behavioral health hospitals in remote areas, which can make it difficult for patients to connect with their support system.
“We wouldn’t take children with cancer and say they need to be two hours away, where there is no one around them,” said Cynthia Rogers, MD, psychiatrist-in-chief at St. Louis Children’s told Fortune. “These are still children with illnesses, and they want to be in their home city, where their family can visit them.”
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