Allina to move mental health care for children, teens out of United Hospital

Allina Health will no longer offer inpatient mental health services for children and adolescents at its United Hospital in St. Paul.

In an internal memo obtained by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, Allina officials told staff the children and mental health services will transfer to Abbott Northwestern Hospital. The beds that were dedicated for children’s mental health services at United Hospital will instead be transitioned to adult mental health services.

Allina told staff the consolidation and reconfiguration will “maximize capacity across the care continuum” and that Abbott Northwestern is “best suited to serve” children and adolescents.

“We are continually assessing how to best meet the needs of the patients we serve,” Allina told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS about the move. “As a result, we have made the decision to transition United Hospital’s inpatient child and adolescent mental health services to Abbott Northwestern Hospital to continue to appropriately meet the demand for inpatient mental health services for this patient population, who come to us for care from across the state.”

“There will be no reduction in access to inpatient mental health beds for adolescents or adults. Because this change is a consolidation in services and there is no reduction in access to mental health beds, there was no need for the (Minnesota Department of Health) public notice or public hearing process,” Allina continued.

Allina hasn’t yet said when the changes will take effect.

The change will remove a child mental health services option from the east metro.