Dayton Children's announces plan for new behavioral health facility

DAYTON, Ohio (WKEF) -- Dayton Children's Hospital says it plans to build a new facility at its Dayton campus, to meet the growing demand for behavioral health services.

Deborah Feldman, president and chief executive officer, said the project is made possible from $25 million in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, which the state is funneling to Dayton Children's Hospital.

The facility is expected to double the number of beds for mental health patients from 24 to 48. It also will combine behavioral health services into one space. The hospital also will repurpose existing space.

Feldman said the hospital board initiated a strategic plan to address the behavioral health needs now and in the future.

Gov. Mike DeWine also spoke at the announcement. He said the nation faces a mental health crisis, which includes our children.

"That's why we're here today. The goal when Deborah (Feldman) and I talked was to deal with two really related problems. One was lack of capacity and the other was wait time."

He said for parents having to deal with either one is "gut-wrenching."

Feldman called mental health the health care crisis of this generation. She said she wants to inspire hope in the future of health care in our community.

Brian Brun spoke emotionally about the struggles his daughter, Emma, faced beginning in February 2021.

"With the pressures of COVID, with the challenges of some health issues she did not understand and the isolation of that pandemic, her inability to compete in the sport that she had built a life around, she ran out of endurance. She attempted to take her life," Brun said.

Brun said the hospital where they took Emma had no beds available.

"As a parent and a father in that moment, I am aware that there are mothers and fathers in that same exact moment, so many so, that there aren't any beds," Brun said. "That is more than a crisis, because in that moment, not only are there children suffering but there are families without answers, without hope and without direction."

Brun said he is grateful today that parents' voices are being heard, the crisis is being acknowledged and the Dayton Children's Hospital facility is being built.

"We as a family have decided to heal publicly to end the stigma around this, to bring light and hope and joy to the things that need to be heard," Brun said.

He said that after many months of care from Dayton Children's and elsewhere, Emma's story of crisis has had a happy ending.

"We have a positive end to our story. Many do not, but it's an ongoing story. Every day is being written as new," Brun said.

Brun said his wife and their daughter, Emma, are writing a book, "Sunshine in Her Soul."

"We are desperate to get our story out so that parents have hope, have a place to turn, that kids have a place to learn about their own mental health and the avenues that they have for care and for love and direction," Brun said.

Groundbreaking is anticipated for spring 2023 and the opening is expected in spring 2025.

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