Construction is underway on a 77-bed children’s psychiatric hospital in Webster Groves.
Workers finished the skeleton of the new building near Rock Hill Road and Gore Avenue and celebrated with a topping-off ceremony Tuesday.
St. Louis Children’s Hospital and KVC Missouri will operate the hospital, which will serve patients ages 6 to 18. The majority of the treatment beds will be for shorter-term stays; hospital officials said the average stay in similar facilities is three to five days. A dozen beds will be reserved for longer-term residential patients.
The hospital is set to open in late 2026.
Supporters of the project said it will add capacity to an overtaxed pediatric mental health system.
The lack of treatment options in the region has forced many families to seek care hours away, said Kim O’Connor-Soule, senior inpatient officer for Camber, the inpatient treatment arm of KVC.
“Too many young people are struggling, too few resources are available, families in crisis are searching for solutions they can’t find or that don’t exist,” she said.
The St. Louis area has about half the treatment beds needed for young people experiencing depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and other mental health issues, said Cynthia Rogers, division director and vice chair of child psychiatry at Washington University.
Many patients end up staying in the emergency department for days or weeks while they wait for an inpatient bed to become available, she said.
“We also have to send children and their families to inpatient units hours away from St Louis because no beds were available locally,” she said. “That not only delays care, but it separates children from their support system at a time when they need it the most.”
Sarah Fentem
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St. Louis Public Radio
Workers signed the topping-out beam before it was hoisted — along with a flag and a small evergreen tree — to the top of the building’s skeleton.
Some living in the residential neighborhood surrounding the campus opposed the construction and raised concerns about safety, lights, traffic and noise after KVC and Children’s unveiled plans for the hospital.
Nearly one year after the Webster Groves City Council unanimously approved zoning and permitting changes that allowed construction to begin, signs opposing the hospital have mostly disappeared from Old Webster’s front yards.
Michael Garcia, a resident who had opposed the facility, said many are ready to leave the dispute behind, though “the whole thing put a bad taste in our mouth.”
“I think we’ve made peace with it,” he said.
Webster Groves Mayor Laura Arnold said she thought ongoing communication among KVC, Children’s and residents has “smoothed out the concerns of a lot of neighbors.”
“I appreciate everyone’s willingness to keep talking,” she said in an email. “I believe the focus has shifted more to the amazing services that will be transformational for so many of our kids.”