KSHB 41: Children's Mercy's ambitious mental-health initiative Illuminate 'starting to see fruits of labor'
By Tod Palmer
It’s been a year since Children’s Mercy Hospital announced an ambitious program called Illuminate, which aims to dramatically expand the rising need for youth mental-health services and address the lack of current infrastructure.
The $150-million initiative, which former KSHB 41 News Anchor Dia Wall documented last year when it launched, is a five-year plan that encompasses 14 projects.
The goal is to increase early intervention, increase speciality services, invest in research and innovation, and expand hospital care.
“We are starting to see the fruits of our labor come to fruition and see some results in some of our programs,” Emily Snow, the senior administrative director of behavioral health for Children’s Mercy, said. “We still have a long way to go and we’ve still got a long runway for some of our programs.”
Children’s Mercy has already opened its Depression and Anxiety in Youth, or DAY, Clinic, which treats patients ages 12 to 17 years old with group and individual therapy as well as medication as needed.
More than 1,000 patients have taken part in more than 3,000 family therapy appointments and 2,000 individual therapy appointments already in 2024.
See the full story via KSHB 41