The Children’s Hospital Association conducted a survey to assess the acute mental health needs of children. Some key findings were:
- 94% of children’s hospitals surveyed said they’ve seen an increase in the number of pediatric patients requiring mental healthcare.
- More than half of children’s hospitals (58%) surveyed said they are concerned about a lack of mental health resources to care for those patients.
- The top concern of children’s hospitals in the survey remains high labor costs, with 78% citing that as their top concern. The lack of mental health resources for children emerged as the second leading concern, followed by the national shortage of pediatric health professionals (47%).
Lawrence Moss, president and CEO of Nemours Children’s Health, says the lack of mental health clinicians trained in treating children is a serious problem. “We just simply do not have enough pediatric psychologists and psychiatrists to treat kids,” Moss said.
