Butner, North Carolina — Children living with mental health issues will soon have a new care option.
A 54-bed freestanding hospital will open at 100 W. H Street in Butner. The repurposed space once served as the RJ Blackley Alcohol and Substance Abuse Treatment Center, which closed on March 1st.
The new site will be aimed at people between the ages of 12 and 18, and services will focus solely on addressing behavioral health.
“Children are being swept away by a mental health tsunami,” said Barbara Ann Beibel, director of UNC’s Department of Mental Health.
Beibel said the facility will provide acute care services and is a short-term option. Patients usually stay for about a week.
But health officials say the need is great. They expect to work with up to 800 children each year.
Right now, emergency rooms across the state are filled with teenagers and children who, in some cases, have to wait weeks for beds in behavioral health units, Bibel said. The rate of youth taking their own lives in the state has doubled over the past decade, according to a report from UNC Health.
Beibel says her children need help and she often hears from parents who are desperate to find a place to provide specialized care for their children.
“They are at a loss,” she said. “Their child is in trouble and they don’t know what to do. It’s really sad when you’re a parent and you feel helpless when your beloved child is suffering. We want to help those families. I think I want to do.”
The plan is to take a holistic approach and offer a range of services, from yoga to music therapy, to teach children coping skills.
Health officials told WRAL News they hope to be able to serve the first patients by the end of this month.
