OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — The University of Kansas Health System Marillac Campus usually sees between 50 and 60 patients daily for mental health reasons. But lately, they have seen a decrease.
"Then really, boom. In a course of a week, suddenly no one is here," said Dr. Mitchell Douglass, medical director at the Marillac campus.
The hospital specializes in helping children and teens with mental health concerns. Doctors at the hospital are worried about the decrease.
"It became very concerning because we know that suicide is increasing in this community," Douglass said. "Lots of concerns about suicide… We were seeing those kids before, and then, suddenly, they weren't coming in to get help."
Douglass said he believes the reason children are not coming in is because of the coronavirus.
"You don't want your kid exposed to COVID-19, you don't want your child to become a symptomatic carrier and then transmit it to other people," Douglass said. "But the problem is receiving mental health treatment, evaluating and receiving mental health treatment for suicide risk, is a really important thing."
Doctors at the facility said their patients are ones who have tried to take their own lives, which makes the doctors nervous about how teens are managing.
"What the fear is, the same things we discuss, aspects in medicine is that people are so fearful of coming in for help that they are waiting until after something really bad has happened," Douglass said.
41 Action News spoke with a few parents off-camera who have sent their children to Marillac before.
One of them said parents should not be afraid to admit their child to the hospital during the pandemic. This parent believes suicide is more of a threat than the coronavirus.
Another parent recommended getting help because that teen or child could need more help than a parent can give.
Douglass said patients’ safety is their top priority.
"We are checking both our staff and kids’ temperatures twice a day,” Douglass said. “Everyone who walks in our building is also having their temperature checked. We have a limited number of visitors that can come here.”
He said he wants parents to know that even during this pandemic, mental health should come first for their loved ones.
"If they don't get seen or don't get treated, I am worried there are going to be kids who could be dying," Douglass said.
