Anonymous Donor Gives $25 Million to Support and Expand Behavioral Health at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
On January 26, 2021 CHLA reported that a donor who wishes to remain anonymous has provided a landmark $25 million gift to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) to support the cognitive, emotional and behavioral health needs of CHLA patients.
“On behalf of the vulnerable patients who come to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles for care, I am incredibly grateful for this transformational gift,” says Paul S. Viviano, CHLA President and CEO. “This support will help us extend behavioral health services to every child that we treat, and in doing so truly make a difference in the lives of our most vulnerable patients, now and in the future.”
Children with complex and chronic health conditions often demonstrate an increased need for behavioral health interventions to support their overall well-being and sustain better health outcomes. Substantial gaps exist for mental and behavioral health services for children and adolescents, and rates of cognitive, emotional and behavioral health conditions are steadily increasing (e.g. autism, other developmental disabilities, ADHD, and depression/anxiety). Over the last decade, behavioral health services for children have decreased 15-20% in California as challenging reimbursement levels make it difficult for providers to sustain services. Children and families are left without resources.
“This profound act of generosity allows Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to significantly advance its ability to address this critically important part of our patients’ health and development,” says Alexandra Carter, CHLA Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer, “and it comes at an especially crucial time when the COVID-19 pandemic is directly affecting the mental health of nearly every child in the United States and throughout the world.”
CHLA pediatric specialists are seeing increases in anxiety and depression among patients as a direct consequence of social isolation from the pandemic, loss of routine, school closures, as well as the effects of COVID-19-related parental physical, emotional and economic distress.
The anonymous gift provides CHLA with the capacity not only to sustain but to grow its behavioral health footprint by:
Expanding access to cognitive, emotional, and behavioral health services for patients across the hospital
Expanding proactive screening and intervention which will help children and youth avoid hospitalization
Creating and implementing behavioral health training and education for providers, both at CHLA and within the CHLA Care Network
Leveraging technology and research to improve access and efficiency
Advocating at the local, state and national levels for policies that improve access to behavioral health services for children and adolescents
Completing implementation of new behavioral health outpatient program, including the construction of a new outpatient behavioral health clinic
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