WCAX – April 1, 2025
By ADAM SULLIVAN
LEBANON, N.H. (WCAX) – The Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire is opening a new adolescent psychiatry unit. The six-bed inpatient unit will provide care to kids ages 12 to 17 experiencing mental health crises. The new unit comes amid a shortage of pediatric mental health beds. It’s a collaboration between the Children’s Hospital at DHMC and the Dartmouth Health psychiatry department. Treatment will be delivered by a multidisciplinary team including child psychiatrists, child psychologists, pediatricians, mental health therapists, social workers, occupational therapists, nurses and mental health technicians.
“The opening of our new AMP unit represents a significant step forward in caring for the increasing volume of adolescent patients in our community who require an intensive inpatient level of care,” Dr. William C. Torrey, the chair of psychiatry at Dartmouth Health, said in a statement. The newly renovated space was designed to be bright, modern and cheerful, featuring murals and private rooms. The hospital will start admitting patients to the new unit on April 7.