OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — A new pediatric behavioral health center under construction on the OU Health campus in Oklahoma City is expected to include something not typically found in inpatient mental health facilities: classrooms staffed by public school teachers.
Oklahoma Children’s OU Health and Oklahoma City Public Schools are working together to recruit and place seven teachers who will staff the new Oklahoma Children’s OU Health Behavioral Health Center when it opens in late 2026.
2024 Behavioral Health Center Renderings (OU Health)
The goal is to help young patients continue their education while receiving mental and behavioral health treatment, keeping them on track academically during stays that can last from one week to several months.
“When children are dealing with mental health challenges, they are still learning and growing every day,” said Dr. Robyn Cowperthwaite, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Oklahoma Children’s and chief of the Section of Child and Adolescent Mental Health in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. “Mental health diagnoses can have long-lasting effects if they greatly impair a child’s education. We want to accommodate whatever our patients need so they are learning needed skills and not falling further behind, which only causes more stress.”
The center is described as a reimagined way of delivering care to some of the most vulnerable children in the community and will be one of few in the nation connected to a children’s hospital, allowing for care that addresses both medical and psychiatric concerns.
Currently, many Oklahoma families must travel out of state to access this level of specialized care, adding stress for families already navigating difficult circumstances.
Under the partnership, OKCPS teachers will be stationed at the behavioral health center, with dedicated classrooms for each unit and age group. The teachers will work with patients across grade levels and coordinate with each student’s home school.
2024 Behavioral Health Center Renderings (OU Health)
“This collaboration allows us to support children at one of the most critical times in their lives,” said Kenny Ward, executive director of Special Education for Oklahoma City Public Schools. “Our teachers will help identify each student’s best learning style and any behaviors that need assistance. When patients return to their home schools, they will have updated educational recommendations that set them up for success.”
Oklahoma Children’s will also employ a public school liaison to help ensure information is communicated effectively between the behavioral health center and each patient’s home school.
“We know that children who are struggling with their mental health spend so much of their time and energy on coping that it’s easy to fall behind in school,” Cowperthwaite said. “By providing educational support while they are here, we can look at behaviors that need assistance, determine their best learning style and make recommendations that will help them when they return home.”
The Oklahoma Children’s OU Health Behavioral Health Center, slated to open in late 2026, is designed for family-centered care and will include 72 inpatient beds for short-term stabilization and longer-term treatment. Patient rooms are being designed to allow a parent to stay overnight.
Program spaces are planned to include a two-story gym, outdoor respite and garden areas, family resource areas, and dedicated classrooms. A skybridge is also planned to connect the facility to Oklahoma Children’s and the Ronald McDonald House.