While many North Alabamians anxiously await the addition of the new facility, perhaps no one is more excited than Dr. Edgar Finn, who has spent decades working in pediatric psychiatry.
“Life is difficult for young people, and it’s also quite complicated,” said Finn, the new crisis center’s Medical Director. “Researchers note increasing evidence of mental illness in youths, including anxiety and depression, sometimes leading to tragedies such as suicide.”
One study by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), for instance, determined that, in 2021, 42 percent of US high school students reported feeling very sad or hopeless almost every day for at least two weeks, and nearly 25 percent of students considered harming themselves during that same year. Substance abuse also remains a top concern. Even though overall use is down, adolescent overdoses are on the rise due to counterfeit illicit drugs.
Even though times are increasingly tough for kids, Finn reminds us that youth are “amazingly resilient when given the appropriate resources for recovery.
Those appropriate resources will soon be available to kids at WellStone Emergency Services—Pediatrics. Fite Construction is building the addition adjacent to the main WES building on WellStone’s main South Parkway campus. The original WES facility currently admits approximately 150 men and women monthly, with crises ranging from severe depression to self-harm, suicidal thoughts to substance misuse.
Like the adult facility, the pediatric wing will be staffed by a caring, experienced team who will serve adolescents in a warm, open, and compassionate setting.
“My goal for our new program is to provide a safe, welcoming space which allows young people to feel understood and cared for, listened to, and accepted,” explained Finn. “I want our treatment environment to be engaging and supportive as we collaborate with the young person and their family in dealing with the crisis at hand. Ultimately, the goal is to keep hope alive for all young people admitted on what may be their ‘worst day ever’ and transform this day into ‘the day things started getting better.”
The 24-bed, 12,000 square foot pediatric unit will be a dream come true for members of the Tennessee Valley healthcare community, as well as everyone with loved ones, particularly kids and teens, struggling with mental illness and/or substance use disorders (SUD).
HEMSI transports 800 children suffering from a myriad of mental health crises out of Madison County every year. Finn and his team of nurse practitioners, therapists, peer support specialists, and medical techs will be charged with de-escalating the crises; stabilizing, diagnosing, and treating their clients; and mapping out recovery plans moving forward.
“The impact of crisis care for youths in our community cannot be overstated,” Finn added. “Access to psychiatric services is a critical part of community well-being, in much the same way that access to pediatric medical care is vital. I am anxious to see how our community benefits from work being done here, and hope for community support for the efforts made to improve mental health care in this region.”
Community members who wish to support the work at WES’s pediatric unit are encouraged to join hundreds of other donors who have contributed to WellStone’s “Be the Rock—Kids” capital campaign. WellStone is about $1.2 million shy of its $2.5 million Be the Rock fundraising goal, and plans to wrap up the campaign by year-end. To help them reach their fundraising target, you can make a secure, online donation at https://go.wellstone.com/be-the-rock (or wellstone.com, if that’s easier).
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