Children in western and central Kansas have been given a huge gift by the Sunflower Foundation – Health Care for Kansans. The Topeka based foundation recently awarded KVC Behavioral HealthCare a $153,200 grant. This funding enables KVC to provide access to mental health services for children and families at the new Wheatland Psychiatric Hospital in Hays, Kansas.

Wheatland provides psychiatric care for children in 59 counties from Salina west to the Colorado border. Wheatland began accepting patients ages 6-18 on May 3, 2010. Wheatland is a 24-bed facility that employs nearly 50 staff, mostly behavioral health care professionals. Children transferring to Wheatland would have been previously served at the Larned State Hospital.

“KVC is extremely appreciative of the Sunflower Foundation’s gift. This funding gives us the opportunity to expand our mission to enrich and enhance the lives of children and families by providing medical and behavioral healthcare, social services, and education,” said Wayne Sims, President and CEO of KVC Health Systems, Inc.

James Van Doren, M.D., who will serve as hospital physician, has a broad range of experience in the practice of psychiatry. He is a board certified psychiatrist specializing in psychodynamic therapy and psychopharmacology. He especially enjoys working with adolescents and their families. Dr. Van Doren, a Hays native, is returning to his hometown from Tucson, Ariz.

KVC currently provides the same level of services for children in eastern Kansas. These children formerly were served at the state’s Rainbow Mental Health Facility in Kansas City, Kansas. They are now treated at the KVC Psychiatric Hospital, which is part of the KVC psychiatric services campus for children and adolescents in Wyandotte County.

When a child is discharged from the program, KVC professionals partner with community mental health centers to continue providing the highest quality of behavioral health care.