CHOC to open a center to address mental-health issues of children, adolescents

Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet

ORANGE, Calif. — In a room full of physicians, board members, philanthropists and parents whose families have been affected by mental-health issues, Children’s Hospital of Orange County announced an initiative designed to help children and adolescents with mental illness get the health care services they need.

Dr. Maria Minon speaks at a press conference to announce Children’s Hospital of Orange County’s mental-health initiative. (Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)

With a $5 million gift from Sandy Segerstrom Daniels, managing partner of Costa Mesa-based C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, the hospital will establish the CHOC Children’s Mental Health Inpatient Center. According to hospital spokesperson Denise Almazan, this will serve as the cornerstone of a larger initiative to raise $11 million for inpatient capital and another $16 million to endow the program.

With the creation of the CHOC Children’s Mental Health Inpatient Center, children from age 3 to 18 can receive care for mental-health issues, with priority for children under 12. The new center will be built on the third floor of CHOC’s Research Building and will contain 18 beds — the first of its kind in the county for children under 12. Renovations will begin later this year with an expected completion date of 2017.

A rendering of the new facility’s reception is expected to be completed in the fall of 2017. (Photo courtesy of CHOC Children’s)

“Mental health affects everyone,” said Dr. Wayne Nguyen, a CHOC psychiatrist.

Studies from the National Institute of Mental Health show one in five children experience a diagnosable mental health problem. Depression, bipolar disease and severe anxiety are a few examples of the mental health issues facing children and adolescents today. That number translates to roughly 150,000 children in Orange County alone who are affected, yet currently, there are no inpatient psychiatric services for children under the age of 12.

Children such as Noah Kemp.

Kemp was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 5 and suffered an acute manic episode in June 2013 when he was 10. His father, Derek Kemp, 56, said he couldn’t find help for Noah anywhere in the county and was referred to hospitals in Los Angeles or San Diego counties.

Noah Kemp, 12, was diagnosed with bipolar disease at age 5 and suffered a manic episode in 2013. His father, Derek Kemp (right) said finding help for Noah was difficult. (Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)

“There is very little help in Orange County to reach these kids suffering from mental illness,” Derek Kemp said. “We need to get to them when they are young so that we can help them.”

At around the same time Kemp and his wife were dealing with their own family crisis, Kay and Rick Warren, co-founders of the Saddleback Church in Mission Viejo, were dealing with their own crisis: the death of their son two months earlier. After suffering for years from depression and mental health illness, Matthew Warren, then 27, took his own life.

Their common struggles in having children with mental illness drew them together, as did their faith. As parishioners of the Saddleback Church, the Kemps and Warrnes were able to lean on each other for support.

Derek Kemp (left) stands with his son Noah Kemp (center) and Kay Warren (right). (Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)

“When I heard the Kemps’ struggle in treating Noah, I thought to myself, ‘No, we can’t just sit by. He needs better care,’ ” Warren said. “I decided this was something that CHOC should do.”

Her husband agreed.

“Orange County is famous for a lot of things, but it ought to be famous for taking care of children living with mental illness,” he said.

From that resolve, the Warrens and the Kemps had their first meeting with the leaders of CHOC in January 2014. That conversation led to the creation of a task force led by Dr. Maria Minon, CHOC’s chief medical officer, and Dr. Heather Huszti, CHOC’s chief psychologist.

Kimberly Chavalas Cripe, CHOC’s president and CEO, said the timing was right to create this initiative.

 A rendering of the new center to be completed in 2017. (Photo courtesy of CHOC Children’s)

“Mental health illness is such a pervasive problem that people don’t want to talk about,” Cripe said. “We recognize that the services available to families with children who have mental illness in the county are woefully inadequate, and I know CHOC can step up to provide a scalable model for other hospitals to look at. We know our plans are ambitious but they are critical and life-saving.”

“Our county has one of the lowest number of beds for patients per capita in California, and also the lowest number of psychologists for the number of people living in Orange County,” Nguyen said. “This new center will be helpful for the entire county.”

That includes in the Vietnamese community, where parents are slow to come to terms with mental-health issues.

Dr. Wayne Nguyen, a psychiatrist at Children’s Hospital of Orange County, poses with renderings of the new Mental Health Inpatient Center. (Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)

“In the Vietnamese community, the problem we see is that parents don’t recognize it in children because it is a stigma. Parents don’t seek help because they think it’s a sign of weakness, but if we catch it early and intervene, the results are much better.”

All parents, he said, need to be aware of the symptoms of mental-health issues.

“Sometimes parents attribute depression to laziness and don’t think to ask if there’s something more going on,” Nguyen said. “Symptoms like poor grades, not being social, withdrawal and loss in appetite and insomnia are all signs that parents should be aware of. Parents should know that children who have mental-health issues can still lead normal, productive lives.”

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