Meeting the Needs of Our Community

Bluestone Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Hospital has been developed to fill a widening gap in services and to address a growing shortage of beds dedicated to children’s acute mental health needs. Over the past 20 years, psychiatric hospitalization of youth has risen 42 percent while Ohio’s number of pediatric psychiatric beds has fallen about 38 percent. In Cuyahoga County, there are only 25 psychiatric beds for approximately 325,090 youth; the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services has not operated a child or adolescent inpatient program for more than two decades. Moreover, the hospitalization of individuals with autism is of increasing concern, as hospitals are not equipped to admit or work with these patients. The crisis of availability and accessibility is clear.

About Bluestone Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Hospital

  • Bluestone, a part of the Wingspan Care Group, is a 14,000 square foot, 12-bed psychiatric hospital designed to create cutting-edge clinical care and positive patient experiences for youth in crisis.
    Bluestone provides services to patients aged 6 to 17 who require psychiatric stabilization. If a person between the ages of 18 and 21 has a developmental disorder or other clinical needs, and the person is under the care of a legal guardian, the patient may be admitted if clinically appropriate.
  • The Bluestone facility and team of professionals ensures that the most vulnerable youth, such as those who are dually diagnosed or with autism spectrum disorder, receive the highest quality care and highest rate of success upon discharge.
  • Bluestone is built upon the experience of the affiliate partners of the Wingspan Care Group and has been designed to have the same high level of impact for which they are known, stabilizing patients and providing seamless step-down and wraparound services to prevent relapse/re-admission. Approximately 96% of youth who receive crisis stabilization care from Wingspan Care Group step down to less intensive, less costly service. In addition, Wingspan Care Group has a satisfaction rate of 97% with parents/guardians and 92% of youth patients Bluestone is staffed with board certified child and adolescent psychiatrists.

Admission to Bluestone

  • Bluestone requires that a patient has a DSM-V diagnosable psychiatric condition that poses significant risk of the patient engaging in serious harm to self or others without immediate and intensive inpatient psychiatric care.
  • While integrated treatment of co-occurring substance use and autism spectrum disorder occurs, no patient is admitted based upon a principal substance use disorder, developmental disability or Autism Spectrum disorder.
  • Admissions to Bluestone are available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

Services Available at Bluestone

Medical ǀ Nursing ǀ Psychosocial ǀ Substance Abuse ǀ Rehabilitation ǀ Dietary
Pharmacy ǀ Psychology ǀ Dental ǀ Pastoral Counseling ǀ Emergency ǀ Lab/Diagnostic
 

If the patient’s stay extends beyond 10 days, Bluestone provides physical space so that the patient can access or continue individualized education plan (IEP) services, including special education services.

Discharge from Bluestone

  • All discharge planning begins at admission and is done with active participation of the patient, parent, legal guardian, or family as appropriate.
  • Identified community resources are invited to participate in the discharge planning process.

Bluestone Affiliations

  • Bluestone maintains patient transfer agreements and contracts for other medical services with a variety of local hospitals including University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children and the MetroHealth System.
  • Bluestone also contracts with the Cuyahoga County Division of Children and Family Services to accept short-term emergency placements.

 

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Community Health Needs Assessment

Bluestone Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Hospital Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) is the first CHNA completed by the hospital since its opening in 2022, we are pleased to present this snapshot of the adolescent population that we serve in Northeast Ohio and beyond.

Bluestone Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Hospital is a 12-bed psychiatric hospital designed to create cutting-edge clinical care and positive patient experiences for youth in crisis. Bluestone was developed to fill a widening gap in services for children’s acute mental health needs. Over the past 20 years, psychiatric hospitalization of youth has risen 42 percent while Ohio’s number of pediatric psychiatric beds has fallen about 38 percent. In Cuyahoga County, there were only 25 psychiatric beds for approximately 325,090 youth; the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services had not operated a child or adolescent inpatient program for more than two decades. Moreover, the hospitalization of individuals with autism is of increasing concern, as many hospitals are not equipped to admit or work with these patients.

Our commitment addressed this critical service gap by increasing the number of pediatric psychiatric beds in Cuyahoga County by 50 percent. Building upon the extensive experience of fellow Wingspan Care Group affiliates, the Bluestone facility and team of professionals ensures that the most vulnerable youth, such as those who are dually diagnosed or with autism spectrum disorder, receive the highest quality care and have the highest rate of success upon discharge. Built with a wide range of safety features, Bluestone is supported by an equally impressive team of professionals who understand that long-term success of the youth served is the number one priority. Our multidisciplinary staff includes Behavioral Nursing, Speech and Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, Special Education Teachers, and Board Certified Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists.

The blend of quantitative and qualitative data presented in this report provides a description of the health status of the community served by Bluestone Psychiatric Hospital, the issues adolescents are struggling with and the priorities that we will focus on over the next three years to improve the mental health status children and adolescents in our region. 

We invite your comments and feedback on this report as well as on the mental health needs facing adolescents in Northeast Ohio. If you would like to submit written comments, questions or other feedback about the Bluestone CHNA please send your request to Pam Budak, Executive Director, at budakp@bluestone.org. If you would like a copy of an implementation plan, please provide your name and contact information (including preference for email or mail delivery) All copies will be mailed free of charge. For questions, please call (216) 320-8565.

Bluestone Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Hospital Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) 2023

Community Health Needs Assessment Implementation Strategy