East Tennessee Children’s Hospital Asks Community to Support the Mental Health Initiative Fund to Help Combat Crisis

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, Children’s Hospital is holding a campaign to raise money to provide more behavioral and mental health support to the children in our community. The Mental Health Initiative Fund is designed to support current initiatives and needs at Children’s Hospital as well as help enhance education, assessment tools, programs and access.

• In 2023, Children’s Hospital saw over 1,600 children with mental disorders in the Pilot Emergency Care Center and the numbers are rising each year, some months as high as 76% year-to-year.*
• Almost 20% of children in the United States ages 2-8 years (17.4%) had a diagnosed mental, behavioral, or developmental disorder. (American Academy of Pediatrics)
• 15% of adolescents ages 12-17 years had a major depressive episode, 37% had persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, and nearly 20% reported that they seriously considered suicide. (NPR)
• In the state of Tennessee, 13.77% of youth with emotional or mental health issues are not covered by private insurance. (Mental Health America)

All donations will support the pipeline Children’s Hospital is creating to help quality candidates become licensed clinical social workers, help expand the mental health program across all specialties in the hospital and offer faster, more accessible care for children and families.

Visit etch.com/ways-to-give/mental-health-initiative-fund/ to donate to the Mental Health Initiative Fund and support the care Children’s Hospital is providing every day. To schedule an interview the week of May 6, please contact Natalia Havasy.

*Based off January 2022 to January 2023 numbers

East Tennessee Children’s Hospital’s vision is Leading the Way to Healthy Children. Children’s Hospital is a free-standing, independent, not-for-profit pediatric health care system which serves the East Tennessee region. Children’s Hospital is certified by the state of Tennessee as a Comprehensive Regional Pediatric Center.