Children’s Hospital Colorado officials on Tuesday declared “a pediatric mental health state of emergency,” saying their entire system is taxed and experiencing an unprecedented overload of children as young as 8 needing immediate treatment, largely for suicidal thoughts and attempts.
“We’re overrun with kids attempting suicide and suffering from other forms of major mental health illness,” Jena Hausmann, president and CEO of Children’s Hospital Colorado, said Tuesday in a virtual roundtable discussion. “There are so many organizations equally overwhelmed; the sheer magnitude of this situation warrants a different level of support.”
Hausmann issued a “call to action” to Gov. Jared Polis, state lawmakers and agencies to prioritize children’s mental health services, release more funding for suicide prevention and resiliency-building programs, recruit more providers, increase flexibility in the system and reduce bureaucracy in enabling children to access services.