Riley Opens Indiana’s First Pediatric Medical-Psychiatric Unit
INDIANAPOLIS — Addressing what healthcare leaders call “the crisis of our era,” Riley Children’s Health is opening the doors to its new Medical-Behavioral Health Unit. The 11-bed facility represents Indiana’s first dedicated pediatric medical-psychiatric unit and stands among only a handful of such specialized units in the entire nation.
The project arrives at a pivotal moment for pediatric health in Indiana. According to data from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), approximately 74,000 Indiana adolescents experience serious thoughts of suicide each year, while 114,000 suffer from major depressive episodes. Historically, youth experiencing dual medical and mental health crises faced significant gaps in care—often boarding in emergency departments or requiring out-of-state placement due to a lack of specialized regional infrastructure.
David Biggerstaff, MHA, President of Riley Children’s Health says this unit will serve a specific purpose. “It’s here to serve kids who have both medical and mental health needs. These kids today are spread across the hospital, and they’re spread across the state. This gives us a dedicated unit for caring for these kids.” He also says it’s the first of its kind here in the state. “There are very few units like this across the country, and at Riley, this is an important part of our investment in mental health across the state.”
Children requiring hospitalization for severe eating disorders, nutritional rehabilitation, or acute medical conditions compounded by psychiatric diagnoses often cannot be accommodated in standard psychiatric wards or traditional medical floors. The new unit solves this dilemma by offering integrated, dual-focus medical and psychiatric treatment overseen by specialized care teams.
According to Biggerstaff, The mental health crisis with our kids today with adolescents today has been called the crisis of our era. “It’s an important part of what we do here at Riley is caring for kids on an outpatient basis and inpatient basis and importantly for those kids who have these medical needs and the mental health needs, this is an essential unit for those kids.”
In Many states, children would have to go outside of state to receive this level of care, and so this will serve all the children in Indiana when they really need the escalated care to have these unique services. This is one of the few centers in the country that children can receive the psychiatric care and the medical care from the same physician.
Where many hospitals focus on the issue at cause, Riley’s focus is on the whole child. Douglas Graham, MD, PhD says it’s very unique to have an opportunity to have one physician have those skills to be able to take care of the whole patient.
The unit is projected to treat roughly 325 young patients annually. Beyond clinical beds, the physical space incorporates intentional environments to support holistic recovery, including:
Shuman Commons: A specialized space dedicated to expressional arts therapy.
Dedicated Sensory & Recreation Rooms: Environments designed for therapeutic decompression and emotional regulation.
In-Unit Classroom: Educational support to help hospitalized youth maintain academic continuity.
The facility was brought to fruition through donor backing via the Riley Children’s Foundation’s Every Child Deserves Riley campaign, which has prioritized pediatric mental health access.
“Every child deserves access to the specialized, compassionate care they need to heal and thrive,” said David Biggerstaff, president of Riley Children’s Health. “This innovative space expands access to comprehensive behavioral health services for youth across Indiana, ensuring more young people with complex medical and mental health needs can receive coordinated, expert care close to home.”
Courtney Roberts, president of Riley Children’s Foundation, emphasized the community impact: “This unit is a powerful reflection of what our community can make possible. We are incredibly proud that donor support is helping provide children a safe, welcoming place to receive comprehensive care.”
The new inpatient unit expands upon Riley’s broader mental health infrastructure, including its Pediatric Integrated Behavioral Health program, which currently extends primary care behavioral health support to over 80,000 children across 81 Indiana clinics.
ABOUT RILEY CHILDREN’S HEALTH
Riley Children’s Health is Indiana’s only full service statewide pediatric health system. Riley Children’s offers complete, comprehensive pediatric care ranging from routine primary care checkups to the most complex acute care needs from highly skilled pediatric specialists. The system connects patients with expert primary care and specialty care physicians in communities across the state of Indiana. Riley physicians treat patients in their home communities, bringing top-notch care close to home. This statewide network is an extension of Riley Hospital for Children, one of the nation’s leading children’s hospitals consistently ranked a Best Children’s Hospital by U.S. News & World Report.
ABOUT RILEY CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION
Riley Children’s Foundation is Indiana’s preeminent nonprofit dedicated to funding children’s healthcare and the founding organization that opened Riley Hospital for Children in 1924. Today, Riley Children’s Foundation inspires our communities to invest in world-class pediatric research and care at Riley Children’s Health and Indiana University School of Medicine, and in programs like Camp Riley that support the well-being of kids and families. Riley Children’s recently launched their Every Child Deserves Riley $300 million comprehensive campaign, their most ambitious fundraising campaign to date. Learn more about Every Child Deserves Riley and how you can get involved here.
