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U.S. pediatric inpatient psychiatric bed capacity did not change 2017–2020, despite increases in pediatric mental health emergency visits, according to a study published in JAMA Pediatrics. Researchers also found substantial geographic variation in inpatient psychiatric bed capacity per 100,000 children, ranging from zero in Alaska to 75 in Arkansas. Over 90 percent of pediatric inpatient beds are in urban centers, raising concerns for youth living in rural areas.
“Access to psychiatric inpatient care for youth is insufficient to meet the growing demand, forcing patients to wait for hours or even days in emergency departments or on medical units until a psychiatric bed becomes available,” said senior author Jennifer Hoffmann, MD, MS, emergency medicine physician at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “It is also critical to ensure that access is equitably distributed across the country, as well as available in rural areas where we found a serious shortage of psychiatric beds for youth. Every child deserves access to psychiatric care. The lack of psychiatric beds for children in some areas places a significant burden on families, emotionally and financially.”
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