Children’s Institute to end inpatient services

The Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh on Tuesday announced it would discontinue its inpatient services as it focuses efforts on other programs.

The decision to end inpatient services and fully invest resources elsewhere comes as the institute’s board and leadership team said it saw an evolution in the needs of the children it serves.

“Our goal is to really take time to look at all of our services and find those ones which are truly needed in the community and grow those services,” said Wendy Ann Pardee, CEO of the Children’s Institute. “And our goal is to ideally reach more children with phenomenal services that we have a long history of providing.”

Ms. Pardee said the institute is licensed for 62 beds between its behavioral health unit and its inpatient rehabilitation services, about 19 of which are occupied daily. The institute said it will work with families of children in inpatient services to help them transition to other facilities.

The number of large health care providers in the region that have similar services coupled with the desire to stay relevant in the community prompted the decision to end inpatient services, Ms. Pardee said.

“We’re a small provider compared to what we have the luxury of having here in Allegheny County,” Ms. Pardee said. “And those other providers are doing those services incredibly well.”

Ms. Pardee said the institute will focus on and expand its outpatient health care services; The Day School, which has classrooms designed specifically for children with autism, classrooms for children with multiple disabilities, and transitional classrooms for our young adult students; and Project STAR, the institute’s social services arm, which works with children engaged in the foster system.