Pediatric hospital groups team up to prevent youth suicide

Physicians and medical societies have decried a growing mental health crisis among children and teens in recent years, and now pediatric hospital groups are looking to work closer together to address the problem.

The Children’s Hospital Association, which represents pediatric hospitals across the United States, is teaming with the Children’s Hospital Alliance, based in the United Kingdom, and Speak Our Minds, Children’s Healthcare Canada. They announced this week that they have launched the Global Preventing Youth Suicide Collaborative.

The groups say that they want to work together to develop strategies to identify young people at risk of suicide and develop better treatments and outcomes, as well as expand access to care.

Matthew Cook, CEO of the Children's Hospital Association, said the collaborative will allow pediatric leaders and health systems to learn from each other and develop strategies to provide better care.

"Children’s hospitals have a critical opportunity to identify young people at risk and connect them with support, often before a crisis occurs," Cook said in a statement.

Spotting kids at risk

Some children and teens at risk are being seen by healthcare organizations, but providers aren’t necessarily seeing individuals who are at risk of hurting themselves. More than 40% of young people in the U.S. who have attempted suicide saw a healthcare provider within the past month, the association says.

Part of the problem stems from a shortage of behavioral health professionals trained to work with young people, Cook told Chief Healthcare Executive® in a March 2026 interview.

Nearly three of four U.S. counties (72%) do not have a practicing child and adolescent psychiatrist. Some families are waiting months to get an appointment to see a psychiatrist, and even if they get an appointment, some physicians may not take their insurance or aren’t accepting Medicaid patients, he syas.

“It is really a striking number when you consider the challenges we have in this country with mental health and the fact that the crisis has been getting worse over the last several years,” Cook said in March.

The new collaboration comes five years after the Children’s Hospital Association joined with the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry to declare a “National State of Emergency in Child and Adolescent Health.”

The pediatric hospital groups say they will work to expand screening for suicide risk across children’s hospitals. They say they plan to develop pragmatic strategies to identify youth who are at risk and better ways to support and treat youth. They also said they’ll work to share effective youth suicide prevention practices.

More patients in crisis

Leaders of children’s hospitals say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of kids and teens needing behavioral health services in recent years.

Dr. Michael Kupferman, president and CEO of Penn State Health, told Chief Healthcare Executive in an interview earlier this month that the system is treating more youths with behavioral health needs.

“We're continuing to see, unfortunately, increasing numbers of children and adolescents with psychiatric diagnoses,” Kupferman says.

Lawrence Moss, president and CEO of Nemours Children’s Health, told Chief Healthcare Executive® in a November 2023 interview that the system has seen rising numbers of patients with behavioral health needs for years. Moss said the mental health crisis in children began before the COVID-19 pandemic, and he says the crisis needs more attention.

“It is at risk of overwhelming the system,” Moss said. “And yes, we need to as a society, take it seriously and come up with answers.”

Find out more

Learn about the pediatric collaborative on suicide prevention: childrenshospitals.org/mentalhealth.

Getting help

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Dial or text 988 to connect with someone. Help is available 24/7.