Cincinnati Children’s Has History of Advancing Mental Health

On Oct. 9, we announced a transformational donation of $15 million from the James J. and Joan A. Gardner Family Foundation to establish a Mental and Behavioral Health Institute, and our new residential facility at College Hill opens Oct. 16. These are two important milestones in our organization’s long-term commitment to improving mental health outcomes for children throughout our region and beyond.

Addressing mental health issues is not new to Cincinnati Children’s. Here are some examples of the work we’ve done over the years to help children (and staff) thrive in body and in mind.

1.

Fred Silverman, MD, director of Radiology from 1947 to 1975, was the first to use diagnostic radiology to identify signs of child abuse. He co-authored a landmark paper, “The Battered Child Syndrome,” with C. Henry Kempe, MD, that appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 1962. At the time, the subject of child abuse was seldom discussed, even in the healthcare setting, because of the difficulty of establishing proof, and because pediatricians hadn’t been trained to deal with illness or injury that had been deliberately inflicted. Even after publication of Silverman’s and Kempe’s paper, it took nearly 20 years for physicians to openly acknowledge the reality of child abuse and even longer for hospitals to develop protocols for handling such cases.

2.

The Child Abuse Team was formed at Cincinnati Children’s in the mid-’70s, with Mark McGovern, MD, as the medical director. That first year, 90 cases of abuse were reported. Abuse laws were on the books as early as 1963, but they were virtually ignored because the person making the report could be held liable for defamation of character. This changed in the ’70s with the addition of the Good Samaritan clause, saying you couldn’t be held liable if you were making the report in good faith.

3.

In 1993, Cincinnati Children’s introduced the Dog Visitation program, through which the animals went through a rigorous screening and training process before they could visit inpatients accompanied by a volunteer. The pups boosted spirits and provided comfort for children who were stressed by illness and separation from their families. In 2013, Cincinnati Children’s introduced the Family Pet Center. This facility allows extended-stay patients an opportunity to visit with their pets.

4.

The Mayerson Center for Safe and Healthy Children launched in 2000. Bob Shapiro, MD, and the late Pat Myers, clinical director of Social Work, had discussed how it should be modeled for about five years before it opened. They decided on a coordinated “one-stop shop” approach in which the center would be a hub for medical and community personnel—doctors, nurses, social workers, and representatives from the Hamilton County sheriff’s office and the Child Welfare agency. This model reduced the number of times a child had to tell their story. The center also employed forensic interviewers who knew what kind of information the courts needed and could elicit a more precise testimony from the child.

5.

In October 2002, the Junior League of Cincinnati announced a collaboration with Cincinnati Children’s in which they pledged $150,000 in direct funding and at least 65 volunteers to a project called MindPeace. MindPeace is dedicated to developing a mental wellness system for the area, building community awareness about mental illness, increasing respite services for families, and lobbying for improved insurance coverage. According to Lauren Thaman-Hodges, who was the Junior League president at the time, the project was to be “a comprehensive, community-wide program resulting in a hub for mental wellness, education and advocacy for children.”

6.

The College Hill facility first opened on Dec. 16, 2002. The campus included more than 25 wooded acres and housed patients, ages 10-17, with chronic mental illness who required a stay of one to 12 months. There were two 12-bed units (one for males, one for females) and one 12-bed acute inpatient unit. The purchase of the facility was made possible by a generous donation from the Convalescent Hospital for Children, an affiliate of Cincinnati Children’s.

7.

In 2002, Mike Sherbun, PhD, MHA, senior clinical director of Psychiatry Patient Services, and Mike Sorter, MD, director of the Division of Psychiatry, initiated a strategy to forge partnerships that maximized community resources and reduced duplication of services. They established the Psychiatric Intake Response Center to admit patients more quickly to Cincinnati Children’s or redirect others to a facility more appropriate to their level of need.

8.

Cincinnati Children’s Therapeutic Interagency Program (TIP) began as a collaboration between various Hamilton County agencies and Cincinnati Children’s Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. The program serves around 68 children a week and provides them with a safe environment to heal.

9.

John Pestian, PhD, patented a technology to identify people at risk for suicide based on the language they use. The announcement of the SAM app (Spreading Activation Mobile) in 2016 was the culmination of eight years of work by clinicians, scientists and many, many volunteers who analyzed thousands of suicide notes and conversations. The technology doesn’t stop suicide, but it alerts the clinical counselor that there’s an issue so the patient can get a streamlined path to the care they need.

10.

Cincinnati Children’s Professional Health Committee, Patient Services, and the UC Center for Integrative Health and Wellness launched a wellness program in 2017 for physicians and researchers experiencing burnout. Though designed for faculty, it was open to anyone who needed it.

11.

Today, Cincinnati Children’s partners with Spring Health to bring a variety of mental health and well-being resources to employees. Webinars cover a range of topics like grief, loneliness, social anxiety and other wellness issues. Additionally, employees can access personalized health coaching to set health and wellness goals.

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