A up-to-date 70-bed acute psychiatric hospital for children and teens will open in Jonesboro, Methodist Family Health announced this week.
The behavioral healthcare provider, which already operates similar facilities in the state, purchased the Jonesboro building where the Arkansas Continued Care Hospital is located. The building will be remodeled into an acute psychiatric hospital to provide inpatient treatment, usually for a few days to a couple of weeks, for patients experiencing a mental health crisis, including suicidal behavior or self harm.
Methodist did not provide a timeline for the opening of the hospital or costs related to the acquisition and renovation plans. The provider also operates an acute 60-bed psychiatric hospital in Maumelle.
Nationwide, and in Arkansas, there has been an ongoing shortage of beds available for children and teens in acute psychiatric facilities that treat patients who are experiencing a severe mental health crisis. In 2022, the Washington Post chronicled a family’s harrowing experience as they sought emergency treatment for their child in Maryland, for example.
Because of a severe shortage of inpatient psychiatric beds, their son languished in emergency departments for weeks, with staff not trained to deal with his mental health needs.
From the Washington Post:
No one knows exactly how many mentally ill children and teens in America are left to linger in the ER. A recently published national sample of 88 pediatric hospitals found all but one regularly keeping some children overnight because they’re unable to transfer them to a psychiatric unit — a practice known as psychiatric boarding.
Other acute psychiatric hospitals in Arkansas that treat minors include Rivendell Behavioral Health Services of Arkansas in Benton, Pinnacle Pointe Hospital in Little Rock and Valley Behavioral Health System in Fort Smith.
“Unfortunately, the Arkansas Children’s emergency department continues to be a front door to access mental and behavioral health care for many kids in Arkansas,” Dr. Jason Williams, senior vice president and chief mental and behavioral health officer at Arkansas Children’s, told the Arkansas Times. “When that does occur, we have found that placement can be challenging. However, we applaud the ongoing effort and are supportive of the community commitment to increase access to this level of care for some of the most vulnerable Arkansans.”
Andy Altom, Methodist Family Health president and CEO, said via email that the “closest acute facility to Jonesboro” is an hour away in West Memphis.
“While we serve clients at our own acute hospital [in Maumelle], we are two hours away from northeast Arkansas,” Altom told the Arkansas Times. “It’s going to be a net positive for families to get immediate access to acute admission when they are in crisis, cutting down on transport time and long ER wait times if ambulance transport is needed.”
“MBH Jonesboro will have local people from the northeast Arkansas community caring for their child,” Altom said. “We get to be part of the implementation process of the community aspect northeast Arkansas is missing.”
Methodist Family Health also operates subacute programs for youth, which entail long-term treatment, sometimes for months, for children who are not in a mental health crisis but need more intensive treatment options outside of their homes. Their other operations include qualified residential treatment programs and psychiatric residential treatment facilities.
In October, the Arkansas Times published an investigation into psychiatric residential treatment facilities in Arkansas.
Inpatient psychiatric hospitals are licensed by the Arkansas Department of Health, and ADH has primary jurisdiction over all hospitals. The Arkansas Department of Human Services monitors Medicaid compliance and other quality metric reviews for inpatient psychiatric hospitals serving individuals under age 21.
