New Psychiatric Children's Hospital Addresses County's Pressing Need

Bellefaire JCB, founded over 150 years ago as the Jewish Orphan Asylum in Cleveland, Ohio, continues to innovate to meet the emerging needs of our community. Today the agency helps more than 43,000 youths and their families annually with a wide array of programs providing behavioral health, substance abuse, education, and prevention services. Bellefaire is home to the Monarch Center for Autism.

The Bluestone Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Hospital is the latest innovative addition to the Bellefaire campus, built with the help of many supporting foundations of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland. According to Beth Wain Brandon, a Federation trustee and a member of Bellefaire’s executive committee, “There were only about 25 beds in Cuyahoga County for pediatric psychiatry, so there was a dire need for pediatric psychiatric beds, especially for children with dual diagnoses like autism spectrum disorder and mental illness.”

Bluestone was designed thoughtfully to ensure the proper care of these children. “With this new hospital, the number of pediatric psychiatric beds in Cuyahoga County is increased by 50%,” said Beth.

The Bluestone Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Hospital is a state-of-the-art facility for specialized care and features many safety and security features to ensure the well-being of children. Furthermore, since many children with autism spectrum disorder are sensitive to light and sound, the facility is designed with the ability to change the lighting color and soft surface flooring.  "When we looked at the mental health needs of the community, we saw there was a gap in the high-end acute care that was available,” Beth said. “This new facility, which is one of the first pediatric psychiatric units of its kind, will fill that gap and ensure these children and their families get the help and support they so desperately need."

For more information contact Melanie Halvorson, vice president of Community Planning at the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, at 216-593-2868 or mhalvorson@jcfcleve.org, or contact Beth Cohen Pollack, director of Organizational Advancement at Bellefaire JCB, at 216-320-8320 or pollackb@wingspancg.org.

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