By HFT Staff

Construction has begun on a $36 million replacement and expansion of The University of New Mexico Hospital Children’s Psychiatric Center (CPC) that will increase the number of beds available for New Mexico’s most vulnerable children and adolescents and allow providers to practice modern psychiatric treatments.  Funding for this project was made possible when voters approved a Higher Education General Obligation Bond in 2022. 

The turning over of dirt marks the beginning of an estimated two-year construction process, and progress towards a goal more than 10 years in the making. 

Nearly 50 years ago, the CPC was built as a series of cottages on the premise that children stayed in the facility for a year or more, but that is no longer the model of best practice.  Patients today stay at the CPC for an average of 10-11 days. 

The CPC has been the state’s only children’s emergency psychiatric unit available regardless of a family’s ability to pay. At any given time, 50 percent of the CPC’s patients are from outside the Albuquerque area.  

Moving into a single inpatient facility is expected to reduce patient safety incidents, provide a code compliant environment with modern elements, increase operational efficiency, and lower campus operating costs. 

The needs of young patients across the state have grown in recent years and are expected to continue growing. Mauricio Tohen, MD, DrPH, MBA, Chair of the UNM School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, said the CPC has a responsibility to grow as well, to meet those needs.