St. Louis Children’s Hospital and KVC Missouri have announced a new joint venture to address the children’s mental health crisis together. The plan, as envisioned, would replace aging buildings on KVC Missouri’s Webster Groves campus with a new world-class children’s behavioral health hospital and an outpatient treatment center. This secure inpatient hospital will replace the less secure residential treatment program for which the campus is currently licensed, bringing safety improvements that benefit both children and neighbors.
We’ve created this page to share information and answer questions. If you have questions that aren’t answered below, contact us at [email protected].
What are KVC Missouri and St. Louis Children’s Hospital proposing?
Two of Missouri’s leading children’s health care providers – St. Louis Children’s Hospital and KVC Missouri – aim to address the region’s urgent pediatric mental health crisis by working together through a joint venture to help families access life-saving treatment. Read the full announcement here.
The plan, as envisioned, would replace aging buildings on KVC Missouri’s existing Webster Groves campus with a new world-class children’s behavioral health hospital and an outpatient treatment center. Within the new secure facility, children would be cared for by experienced and specially trained pediatric behavioral health experts from Washington University School of Medicine and KVC. KVC Academy Edgewood, a K-12 therapeutic school, and the historic Rock House will remain on campus as well.
This map shows existing KVC buildings and services in teal, with the proposed project in purple:
What need is driving this proposal?
Children in Webster Groves and the larger St. Louis community are hurting and experiencing an urgent mental health crisis. In fact, in 2022, there were nearly 540 Emergency Department visits to local hospitals for children from the Webster Groves area. Nearly 20% of those were for intentional self-harm or suicidal ideation.
- Suicide and mental health: Suicide is the second leading cause of death for 10–14-year-olds in Missouri. Many of our children are facing unprecedented anxiety and depression.
- Psychiatric bed shortage: St. Louis and surrounding areas have less than 50% of the beds needed to support children—8,751 projected patients per year vs. 3,200 current capacity.
- ERs are under strain: Children in serious mental health crisis are overwhelming Emergency Departments and are forced to wait weeks for the specialized treatment they need.
In short, the need for pediatric mental health services has never been greater. To address this need, we plan to replace existing facilities with a new hospital designed to ensure safety, security and outcomes.
What safety and security measures are planned for the new hospital?
KVC has a long track record of successfully operating children’s mental wellness facilities with safety and security for both the patients and surrounding neighborhoods. Our hospitals are accredited by The Joint Commission, considered the gold standard in healthcare. These hospitals outperform national averages in terms of patient safety and outcomes including high patient experience scores, low readmission rates, and positive post-discharge experiences for caregivers.
While the Webster Groves campus’s past residential treatment program allowed youth to move freely around campus, the new inpatient hospital will be fully secure. Our current proposal calls for replacing current residential treatment beds with a new state-of-the-art hospital designed to incorporate the optimal safety and security technology and protocols utilized at our other facilities, including:
- Controlled access points, locked doors, and appropriate surveillance systems to prevent unauthorized entry and to monitor activities.
- A Safety Management Committee and Safety Officers at each location (including Webster Groves) who routinely evaluate both the internal and external environment and continually enhance safety in multiple ways.
- Appropriate staffing levels to ensure timely response to emergencies and maintain a safe environment.
- Staff receive specialized training in de-escalation techniques, crisis intervention, and managing aggressive behavior to effectively handle challenging situations.
- State-of-the-art patient monitoring technology to ensure the security and safety of patients. Supervision is tailored to individual needs and risk levels.
Inpatient children’s behavioral health hospitals are the optimal care environments for children and proven to ensure safety for neighbors.
Why is Webster Groves the ideal location for this specialized care?
Webster Groves has long been a place of caring for children in need. In 1869, the St. Louis Orphan’s Asylum moved to the Webster College for Boys property in Webster Groves, providing a beautiful, safe new home for children. These nonprofits and many others including Edgewood Children’s Center have integrated over time to form today’s KVC Missouri. This means that the organizations in KVC’s history have been caring for children on our Webster Groves campus for more than 150 years — three decades before the city itself was incorporated in 1896.
Residential neighborhoods are ideal locations for inpatient treatment facilities because they provide a quieter, more therapeutic environment that supports healing; allow for community integration and connection to typical day-to-day life in a way that supports reintegration; and offer accessibility to families who visit or who need to return for outpatient follow-up care.
While KVC is already authorized to serve youth on this campus, our proposal is to enhance safety, security and outcomes by replacing aging buildings with a building intentionally built for inpatient treatment.
Which pediatric conditions will this campus treat?
This campus will serve children experiencing mental health needs including depression, anxiety, and risk of self-harm including suicide. Mental health needs affect all types of families without regard to age, race, gender, socioeconomic status, or other demographic variables. Language describing children served as violent or as criminals is inaccurate, stigmatizing, and harmful.
How has KVC engaged the Webster Groves community for input on this project?
KVC took responsibility for the Webster Groves campus on April 1, 2023, and loves being part of this historic, beautiful community. We’ve worked to engage with the community such as hosting an Open House and tours for the public during the holidays, meeting one-on-one with community leaders, inviting residents to neighborhood meetings about this project in May, and partnering with dozens of business and individual donors who support our mission.
We welcome community questions and input about this project at [email protected].
