Supporters of a plan to build a pediatric mental health facility in a residential part of Webster Groves packed City Hall during a public hearing before the city council Tuesday evening.
The proposed 77-bed inpatient hospital and additional outpatient facility has drawn opposition from some residents concerned about traffic and security, but speakers in favor of the plan, many wearing, “I support children’s mental health” stickers, outnumbered those opposed by a ratio of about 6-to-1 at the meeting.
The public hearing for the proposed facility near the intersection of Gore Avenue and Rock Hill Road drew a crowd that filled the Webster Groves council chambers despite the treacherous winter weather, with dozens more watching the meeting virtually.
KVC, a behavioral health provider that operates pediatric residential care properties in the Midwest, and Children’s Hospital announced plans for the facility in 2023. KVC already operates a school for children and teenagers with behavioral and emotional issues on the 23-acre plot of land.
The two health providers are asking Webster Groves to approve zoning and permitting changes that would allow them to build and operate the hospital.
KVC took over the property, which is surrounded on four sides by single-family homes, in 2023 from the organization Great Circle.
Children’s Hospital officials chose to team up with KVC to increase its ability to provide inpatient mental health treatment. Representatives of both organizations have said that the need for such treatment has increased in the past decade and that Children’s 14 inpatient beds at its Kingshighway location aren’t meeting that demand.
During the meeting, representatives of Children's Hospital and KVC assured council members the project would not significantly increase traffic, place burdens on public resources or adversely affect the character of the neighborhood.
Others, including Webster Groves planning consultant Robert Myers, emphasized the site had been used to provide treatment for children for more than 100 years, a fact that impressed council member David Franklin.
“[Children’s Hospital owner] BJC and KVC here tonight presented a proposal that is in line with that same historical pattern for that property,” he said. “It was heartwarming to hear all the stories and emotional connection that people made about the need for additional medical and pediatric mental health care in this community.”
Many of the approximately 30 people speaking in favor of the project were health care providers or family members of people who had needed to travel from St. Louis to receive mental health care.
“Speaking as a father of a son who has mental struggles still today, it’s been a rocky road over the past 15 years,” said resident John Pantanella. “Some 30 years ago, I started a business. It’s been very successful. I have unlimited contacts and capital at my disposal, and when my son had problems there was nowhere to go in Missouri.”
The plan was not without detractors. Residents who live close to the property raised concerns about what would happen if a child left the facility.
Janet Noble said living next to the hospital would be “almost as great a risk as living next to a prison.”
Resident Tim Conway was skeptical of KVC and Children’s officials’ claims that the facility would not be a traditional hospital and that the changes to the property would not affect the residential nature of the neighborhood.
“If [the plan] wasn’t going to change how the site was going to be used, we wouldn’t be having this meeting,” he said. “I don’t believe you can put a business in a residential area without affecting the area’s character. … I don't think the project meets the criteria of the conditional use permit.”
Mayor Laura Arnold said the council would continue to accept comments from residents about the matter before its next meeting on Jan. 21, when it is expected to take a final vote.
