The partnership will leverage each organization’s strengths and areas of expertise to offer expanded mental health care.
(St Paul, MN) — June 21, 2022 — Children’s Minnesota and PrairieCare are pleased to announce a new partnership that will deliver high-quality psychiatric care to kids as young as six years old. As Children’s Minnesota prepares to open its first inpatient mental health unit this fall, PrairieCare will provide programmatic guidance and joint clinical leadership for the new unit.
Dr. Ryan Williams, PrairieCare’s physician executive, has been appointed as the medical director of inpatient psychiatry at Children’s Minnesota for the new unit.
“We’re excited to partner with PrairieCare to deliver the highest quality mental health services to kids in our community,” said Dr. Gigi Chawla, vice president and chief of general pediatrics at Children’s Minnesota. “Children’s Minnesota is committed to providing the full continuum of mental health services tailored for kids in the region to improve access, equitable care and treatment throughout a child’s mental health journey.”
“This partnership is a testament to the dedication of both PrairieCare and Children’s Minnesota to address the unmet mental health needs of our children,” said Dr. Williams. “Kids and young adults need access to mental health resources designed for their specific, age-appropriate and medical needs, and we look forward to providing this personalized care to our community soon.”
The new Children’s Minnesota inpatient mental health unit will care for approximately 1,000 children and adolescents each year and will provide a healing environment, which includes:
- 22 dedicated inpatient psychiatric beds at the system’s St. Paul hospital that will allow parents to stay overnight with their child.
- The first inpatient unit in the east metro to treat kids under 12 years old. It will also be able to serve children with more complex medical needs, meeting the urgent mental health needs of the most vulnerable kids in Minnesota and the region.
- A dedicated, multi-disciplinary care team of psychiatrists, psychologists, program therapists, nurses, occupational therapists, child life and music therapists to provide individualized treatment tailored to meet each child’s needs.
About Children’s Minnesota
Children’s Minnesota is one of the largest pediatric health systems in the United States and the only health system in Minnesota to provide care exclusively to children, from before birth through young adulthood. An independent and not-for-profit system since 1924, Children’s Minnesota is one system serving kids throughout the Upper Midwest at two free-standing hospitals, nine primary care clinics, multiple specialty clinics and seven rehabilitation sites. As The Kids ExpertsTM in our region, Children’s Minnesota is regularly ranked by U.S. News & World Report as a top children’s hospital.
Find us on Facebook @childrensminnesota or on Twitter and Instagram @childrensmn. Please visit childrensMN.org.
About PrairieCare
PrairieCare is one of the nation’s most innovative, fastest-growing psychiatric health systems, offering psychiatric services for all ages, including free mental health assessments, clinic services, intensive outpatient programs (IOP), partial hospital programs (PHP) and residential services. PrairieCare is based in Minnesota, with 10 locations across the Twin Cities metro, Mankato and Rochester. For more information about services offered, visit prairie-care.com.
