Our Mission for Mental Health Care

The Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health Behavioral Health Center allows us to deliver targeted, evidence-based and personalized care in six critical areas which include:

Specialized Emergency Care

To support the new Behavioral Health Center, the emergency department will be expanded to incorporate ten specialized flex rooms that can be safely used for behavioral health patients and provide additional amenities such as a sensory playroom, a shower for those who may have increased hold times, private interview and consultation space outside of patient rooms, and patient belonging storage to promote a safe environment.

This expansion will also include a private vehicle garage sallyport which will allow discreet, safe transport from our Emergency Department to the Behavioral Health Center.

Short-term Stabilization (Acute Inpatient Treatment)

This space will help kids who are in active crisis and give them a safe, dedicated place to stay for typically up to 10 days. The new facility will include 36 adolescent acute beds and 8 child acute beds.

Long-term Care (Acute II Treatment)

This level of care may provide therapeutic care for patients in need of continued treatment before returning home. Care in this environment will typically last up to several months. The new facility will include 18 typical acute II beds and 10 neurodevelopmental beds.

Intensive Outpatient (IOP) & Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP)

This level of care, often a step down from Acute Inpatient or Acute II, provides patients and families continued access to structure and treatments similar to our Acute programs, without being admitted to the hospital. Patients in PHP participate in school and therapy sessions but are able to be at home in the evenings. Patients in IOP come for intensive therapy programs in the evenings after school. Service offerings will include Mental Health PHP and IOP, Disordered Eating IOP, and Feeding Disorder IOP. Each offering will be hosted in a space specifically designed to meet that patient population’s needs.

Comprehensive Evidence-based Therapies

Children receiving care in the Behavioral Health Center will have access to services only a children’s hospital can provide such as child life specialists, pet therapy, music therapy, and art therapy all in a friendly, stigma-reducing environment. We are committed to maintaining the same, high level of patient-centered care across the continuum of medical and mental health care services.

Ongoing Patient and Family Support

A comprehensive care network of outpatient and community services will support patients and families as they transition back to their daily routines. Partnerships and connections with the Behavioral Health Center providers, resources and schools in local communities will be crucial to ongoing patient success.

Partnership with the OU College of Medicine

Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health Behavioral Health Center will serve as a premier training facility for future healthcare providers in the state and nation, including psychiatrists, psychologists, behavioral health nurses, social workers and more. Education partnerships with The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Fran and Earl College of Nursing at The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences, Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work at The University of Oklahoma and various graduate programs will ensure evidenced-based, mental health care practices. Ongoing medical education to the Oklahoma State Medical Association will extend inpatient and outpatient and rural workforce education in these practices as well.