Akron Children’s Hospital has opened a new regional behavioral health center in Canton, Ohio.
The facility offers many of the outpatient services available at its main campus in Akron including programs that use cognitive behavioral therapy to teach coping strategies and assist those who need additional support transitioning to outpatient therapy.
“We know how important these services are to patient families and this regional strategy is to bring them closer to home,” said Dr. Eva Szigethy, the hospital's director of pediatric psychiatry and psychology. “It is critical for us to tackle problems like anxiety and depression in general and to provide immediate helpful services for families who have a child in a behavioral health crisis.”
The Canton facility is the second one dedicated to behavioral health Akron Children’s has opened. The first opened in Boardman in 2019, according to a media release. The hospital system began opening regional facilities after receiving feedback from the community that behavioral health was a top concern for parents. During a 2022 community health needs assessment, one in three parents and caregivers said they were worried about the stress or anxiety experienced by their child.
“Ultimately, our goal is to prevent the need for higher acuity care by early behavioral health screening and intervention in both pediatric offices and in behavioral centers like this one,” Szigethy said.
Akron Children’s said it also has plans for a third outpatient facility in Mansfield.
Children and teens who require in-patient hospitalization will still need to go to Akron, since the new facility in Canton is not a crisis center, according to the hospital. It advises parents to take children in crisis to its ER in Akron or call the hospital’s Psychiatric Intake Response Center at 330-543-7472 for an assessment of the situation.
Parents and caregivers should talk to their child’s primary physician or call 330-543-5015 for a referral.
