A new and unique residential mental health unit for children under 18 years old is now open at Ohana, Montage Health’s child and family mental health program. The residential unit, located at the Ohana campus in Ryan Ranch, treats youth who struggle with issues including depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, self-harm, trauma, and parent-child relationship problems.
The voluntary and unlocked unit features 16 private rooms in an engaging camp-like environment that is more welcoming than traditional psychiatric facilities. Youth stay for two to six weeks to build new skills and improve their mental fitness through group, individual, and family therapy using dialectical and cognitive behavioral therapies.
The lobby entrance to the Ohana campus.
A spacious courtyard designed to embrace patients and staff.
Music, art, and other therapy are features of the new space.
The Ohana campus gymnasium.
Ohana inpatient residential room.
Arts and crafts room for patients.
Every patient in the residential program has a multidisciplinary treatment team including an individual and family therapist and psychiatrist. Other members of the treatment team can include art therapists, music therapists, registered nurses, occupational therapists, registered dietitians, social workers, and behavioral specialists.
“Children who need more intensive treatment than a traditional outpatient setting shouldn’t have to travel to the Bay Area or even out of state,” says Susan Swick, MD, Executive Director of Ohana. “Now we can offer effective, comprehensive treatment right here in our community. This is one more step in our efforts to improve access to effective care that we hope will result in better mental health for Monterey County kids and families.”
The opening of the new residential unit comes just over eight months after Ohana’s state-of-the-art 55,600-square-foot campus opened at the end of 2023. Nestled among oak trees in the coastal canyon hills of Ryan Ranch, the award-winning campus creates a unique healing environment unlike anything else, drawing on nature, art, and architecture to inspire hope and healing for patients and their families.
Youth and their families who are experiencing an urgent or emergency mental health crisis should still go to the nearest emergency department or call 911 for assistance. Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula’s Emergency department has a Crisis Stabilization Unit for those who are in a mental health crisis but do not require hospitalization. Emergency services are not available at the Ohana campus.
