A new facility dedicated to youth behavioral health is opening this fall in West Peoria.
The Trillium Place Young Minds Center is located in the former Heddington Oaks nursing home. It's an affiliate of Carle Health.
Dr. Derrick Booth is executive director of Trillium Place. He said the new space doubles Carle's available capacity for youth behavioral health inpatient services to 44 beds.
"Many times with limited space, sometimes we have to send individuals out of the area," he said. "This will allow individuals and families to get their services right here, not disrupt their families, not disrupt their living situation, so they can get the treatment and the healing that they need."
The facility offers both inpatient and outpatient services for patients aged 4 to 17. That includes counseling, telehealth, psychiatry, and addiction recovery services.
"It's just been a long time coming. Mental health is something that's on the rise. Mental health concerns. We see the concern for mental health and child(ren) and adolescents getting younger and younger," said Booth.
The $30 million project has been in the works for more than two years. A ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday for the Young Minds Center featured state and local dignitaries, as well as Carle Health leadership.
State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, D-Peoria, represents the area in the Illinois General Assembly. She is also Derrick Booth's spouse.
"We believe that this is going to be what could potentially be, a model, a model that many other communities are going to want to come to this part of our district, of our community, and see what we're doing on behalf of young people to rebuild them at a time when not only them but their families are at their most broken place in their lives," she said.
State Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, echoed the sentiment. He recalled a conversation he had back when he served on the Peoria City Council.
"The city manager pulled me aside one day and said, 'you know, Dave, he said, it really isn't a priority if you don't fund it, if you don't put it in the budget,'" Koehler said. "Well, that's what we've done here, is we have funded and we're serious about making this happen. This is what it looks like when you're serious about mental health in your community."
Dr. James Leonard is president of the Urbana-based Carle Health System. He said this is a big step, but there's still more work to do.
"This is just the beginning of where we need to go. There'll be many more resources that we need. We will be at the front edge of developing treatment in a way that I think really will set the stage for a much broader, broader need in the country. We have that opportunity," Leonard said.
Dr. Booth told reporters after the ribbon cutting that the space at Methodist Hospital currently utilized for youth behavioral health will be repurposed for an yet-to-be-determined endeavor.
