Officials gathered to watch a giant crane place the last steel beam in the frame of a new pediatric behavioral health center. The facility will be the first of its kind in Oklahoma – a behavioral and mental health center at a comprehensive children’s hospital.
Once finished, the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Behavioral Health Center will have 72 beds for children to receive short-term and long-term mental health care.
The three-story, 172,775-square-foot building is set to be finished and fully operational in December 2026.
Located at 1110 NE 12th Street in Oklahoma City, the project is expected to cost approximately $140.6 million. A budget made possible partly by the state legislature, said University President Joseph Harroz Jr.
“The House realized the importance of the project of all families struggling on these issues and the need for treatment and assistance to stay in the state,” he said.
Oklahoma lawmakers committed $19.8 million from the state’s general revenue fund for the project and $39.4 million in federal pandemic relief funds.
The federal dollars came from American Rescue Plan Act funds allocated to OU Health by the GOP-led Legislature last year on the condition the hospital system stop offering some gender-affirming care to transgender youth.
Dr. Rachel Zettl, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at OU Health, said she hopes to work at the inpatient unit after it opens.
“I have lots of patients who really need access to this kind of treatment. And unfortunately, we've been underrepresented when it comes to health options here in Oklahoma,” she said.
Zettl, a former teacher, said the behavioral health center will be designed with the whole family system in mind.
“Our plan to incorporate parents into the treatment process is super important because to me, education is the key to everything,” she said.
She said she believes involving parents will help them better understand how to help their struggling children.
To that effort, all hospital rooms will allow parents to stay with their child during treatment. The facility also includes a gymnasium and multiple other outdoor respite and garden spaces and full-service dining and outdoor seating will be available on each floor.
The new center is also aimed at increasing the amount of healthcare providers in the state educated about mental health treatment.
“If you've gone to a training program where you don't get access or exposure to mental health, you don't really know what to do about it once you're out in the real world and you're a standalone pediatrician or family medicine doctor,” Zettl said.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
