September 22, 2022 – The Children’s Hospital Association (CHA), in partnership with the Cardinal Health and the Zero Suicide Institute (ZSI) at the Education Development Center (EDC), announced the grant recipients of the Preventing Youth Suicide: A Cardinal Health Foundation National Collaborative. The grants, which total nearly $2.1 million, will provide support to 16 children’s hospitals and health systems to implement a framework developed by ZSI and commit to a system-wide transformation to better care for children at risk of suicide. This program is the first national collaborative with the intent to develop a pediatric-specific, data driven approach to improve identification and care of children at risk for suicide in children’s hospitals and health systems.
The collaborative is part of CHA’s ongoing work to address the youth mental health crisis. Last year, CHA along with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) declared a national emergency in children’s mental health. CHA also launched the advocacy initiative Sound the Alarm for Kids which urges Congress to enact legislation and increase funding to address the crisis.
The grants announced today are an expansion of Cardinal Health’s previous two-year, $1.6 million commitment to suicide prevention that launched in 2020. Cardinal’s initial commitment was in partnership with ZSI, who helped the grantees build a preventive system within their own hospital.
The following children’s hospitals and health systems have been awarded grants:
- Phoenix Children’s – Ariz.
- Children’s Health of Orange County – Calif.
- UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital – Calif.
- Valley Children’s Healthcare – Calif.
- Children’s Hospital Colorado – Colo.
- Connecticut Children’s – Conn.
- Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital – Conn.
- Nicklaus Children’s Hospital – Fla.
- C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital – Mich.
- Children’s Mercy Kansas City – Mo.
- St. Louis Children’s Hospital – Mo.
- Atrium Health Levine Children’s – N.C.
- Children’s Hospital and Medical Center Omaha – Neb.
- Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital – Tenn.
- Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital – Texas
- Seattle Children’s – Wash.