DUBOIS – Penn Highlands Healthcare is at the pulse of the region’s behavioral health needs with the opening of the Stern Center for Behavioral Health.
Located at Penn Highlands DuBois East, this new $22 million hospital offers unparalleled inpatient and outpatient therapeutic care to help children and adolescents manage their emotions and deal with life situations.
A staff of licensed professionals develops individualized and structured treatment plans using a multidisciplinary approach to address the unique behavioral health needs of children and adolescents.
In addition, the new center will offer addiction medicine and expanded outpatient behavioral health services for adults.
The building is designed to keep patients safe and comfortable. Features include:
- A total of 44 child and adolescent beds.
- Private inpatient rooms.
- A safe, secure and supportive environment.
- Private and separate inpatient and outpatient entrances.
- Walk-in Clinic for children, adolescents and adults in crisis. (Opening late 2022)
- Outpatient Center for counseling and assessment for mild to severe behavioral health conditions.
- Comfortable Group Therapy Rooms.
- A courtyard and several atriums that provide a tranquil environment.
Areas designed especially for children include:
- Engaging Play Therapy Rooms.
- A safe, functional gym for physical exercise.
- An uplifting Sensory Stimulation Room.
- A calming Seclusion Room where children and adolescents are free from outside stimulus
- A 12-desk classroom for continued learning.
- A cafeteria for group dining.
“The need for behavioral health services for children and adolescents has never been greater,” said John Sutika, president of Penn Highlands DuBois.
“At Penn Highlands Healthcare, we recognize the importance of providing the care that these children and teens require in order to better cope with the situations they face and to be mentally, emotionally and behaviorally prepared for daily living.”
In remarks during an Open House on July 25, Sutika thanked David Stern, president and chief executive officer of Paris Companies, for his philanthropic gift which helped make the new Stern Center for Behavioral Health in DuBois a reality.
This Stern Center for Behavioral Health is expected to start welcoming patients early this fall.
The next phase of this project, which will total $39 million, includes the addition of 22 adult beds, an eight-bed high acuity unit and renovation of the exiting 20 beds on the second floor for the substance abuse treatment unit.
When the project is completed, the Penn Highlands Stern Center for Behavioral Health will offer a total of 118 child, adolescent and adult beds in the Penn Highlands Stern Center for Behavioral Health in DuBois.