Children’s Hospital Colorado ‘overrun with kids attempting suicide’

Editor's Note

The CEO of Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora declared a “State of Emergency” on May 25, saying pediatric emergency departments and inpatient units are being “overrun with kids attempting suicide and suffering from other forms of major mental health illness.”

In the last 2 years, Children’s has had a 90% increase in demand for behavioral health treatment. Isolation and stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated anxiety and depression among pediatric patients into suicide attempts, hospital officials say.

Despite things improving in terms of COVID-19, the stress children have had to deal with has “interrupted their development,” Jenna Glover, MD, director of psychology training at Children’s says, “they’re burnt out, and they feel so behind they don’t know how to catch up.”

The State of Emergency for youth mental health is a first in the 117-year history of the hospital system.