Mississippi’s lone children’s hospital is set to receive $1.5 million to renovate its inpatient psychiatric unit.
Officials with Children’s of Mississippi in Jackson say the money will go toward transforming psychiatric services with the goal of creating an environment that better supports the mental health and wellbeing of youth statewide. The financial commitment was made by Friends of Children’s Hospital, a nonprofit that raises funds to support the hospital.
The healthcare center’s children’s acute inpatient psychiatric unit is the state’s only pediatric hospital-based mental health treatment facility. The 12-bed unit provides short-term care with private rooms for children ages 4-12 experiencing significant emotional and psychiatric challenges, including aggression, anxiety, depression, self-harm tendencies, and developmental delays that are not being successfully managed at home or school.
Renovating the unit, per officials, will support both physical and therapeutic needs of children by creating a more healing-oriented environment that promotes comfort, dignity, and recovery. Hospital leadership adds that the facelift will help better equip staff to serve children and families at some of their most vulnerable moments.
“Mississippi continues to see a growing need for pediatric psychiatric services,” said Dr. Mark Ladner, University of Mississippi Medical Center chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior. “Our current hospital based unit has been supporting this continued need for child inpatient psychiatric care. The renovation strengthens our capacity to provide safe, high-quality treatment at a time when families need it most. It will also provide an improved environment for training of our students, residents and fellows.”
No timeline was given on when the renovations will begin or when they’re expected to be completed.