SHARON, Pa. (WKBN) – Amid great need, Mercer County’s Sharon Regional Medical Center (SRMC) is once again ramping up its child and adolescent behavioral health services.

Early this year, SRMC was forced to temporarily stop accepting children into its child psychiatric unit due to healthcare workforce shortages.

Since then, it has doubled down on efforts to recruit psychiatric nurses and health care professionals to once again be able to provide this vital service to the community.

T.J. Hudock, senior director of behavioral health services at Sharon Regional, said, “The need for psychiatric care for children and adolescents is great. I think it’s fairly well established that children’s mental health is in a state of crisis in the United States right now.”

The pediatric unit is open to kids ages 5 to 18 and referrals can be made from any hospital emergency department in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Other healthcare workers say that it’s a relief to have the unit back open, as they continue to see a significant need for mental health treatment for this age group.

Kristie Lenz, director of nursing for inpatient psychiatric services, said, “Having that service for them in our small community is huge. It helps with parents needing to reach out to a resource and be able to do it locally and keep their kid in the community and the child not have to be transferred hours away.”

The hospital is one of the only child and adolescent units in the area, and the only one licensed in the state of Pennsylvania within about an hour and a half radius.