“Mental health is the defining crisis of our children’s generation and, therefore, one of our strategic priorities,” said Debbie Feldman, president and CEO of Dayton Children’s Hospital .
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Dayton Children’s has seen more than 9,000 children with mental health needs in the past year, which is a 30% increase from when the hospital started construction in 2023 on the newly finished Mathile Center, according to Dr. Kelly Blankenship, the division chief of psychiatry at Dayton Children’s.
Over the past two years, Dayton Children’s has been working to reduce the number of children waiting for a mental health.
“In the month of March in 2023, we had 212 kids waiting on medical floors for behavioral health beds to open up somewhere in the county. In March of 2025, we were able to reduce that down to 41,” Blankenship said.
‘Hope is what this building is really all about’
The Mathile Center is named after the family of Clay Mathile, the former owner and CEO of the Iams pet food company. Mathile died Aug. 26, 2023. While the Mathile Family Foundation has been contributing to philanthropic projects in the Dayton area for decades, the new mental health building is the first building to bear the Mathile family name, according to the Foundation.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Naming the building after the Mathile family was about more than just the significant, but undisclosed, funds donated to the building, according to Feldman.
“It’s about saying to the community, ‘We care. We see you. We understand that you have challenges, but we know there’s hope,’” Feldman said. “And hope is what this building is really all about.”
A new building like this one changes lives, said Blankenship.
“You see beyond the diagnosis to the potential that every one of our kids has. It also sends a powerful message to all of our children. They matter, their mental health matters, your future matters and you are not alone,” Blankenship said.
‘Designed with intention’
The Mathile Center doubles the number of inpatient mental health beds that Dayton Children’s has, expanding from 24 to 48 beds. Each bed is in a private room.
The patient rooms cost about $100,000 each and were designed to prevent self-harm. The $10,000 doors open both inward and outward to prevent children from barricading themselves inside a room and are also equipped with anti-ligature door handles. Media boards in the rooms allow for video calls and other uses.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
“Every detail of the Mathile Center was designed with intention—creating a beautiful, welcoming environment that is both safe and deeply healing,” said Cindy Burger, vice president and chief experience officer at Dayton Children’s .
“We know that space matters, especially for children in crisis, and we wanted to reflect the same compassion and care that our team brings to every child and family who walks through these doors.”
More space to expand services
Many of Dayton Children’s mental services will be moving from other locations to the Mathile Center, which offers more space and more staff to take care of more children.
“The Mathile Center serves as the centerpiece of a full spectrum of services Dayton Children’s provides for the community, from therapists in schools to community health workers, to the new and expanded mental health outpatient care center in Miamisburg,” Feldman said.
From crisis intervention to inpatient and day treatments, the Mathile Center assists children of varying levels of need to get back to some stability and avoid future crises.
Services inside the Mathile Center include:
- Price Family Crisis Center: Moving and expanding from the main hospital, this space adds more assessment rooms.
- Inpatient treatment: Also moving and expanding from the main hospital, the inpatient unit offers 48 beds across two floors. Each bedroom has a private bathroom and a media board. Children also have access to three outdoor spaces. Inpatient therapy can consist of movement like yoga or dance, art expression and music.
- Bridge clinic: This service “bridges” the gap between a crisis event and connection to a long-term therapist for children and teens who are not already linked to a community mental health provider. Expanded staff and space now mean that every child who comes to the crisis center meets with a mental health professional the very next day, according to Dayton Children’s. That care continues until a transition can be made to a provider in the community, which can sometimes take weeks.
- Day treatment: Moving from the First Street location, day treatment consists of two programs: partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient. These programs follow an inpatient stay and allow a child to continue their healing journey with a higher level of treatment after they return home.
Built with community, state, federal support
Community donors and lawmakers helped Dayton Children’s raise the $110 million to make the building a reality.
“State representatives have your back,” State Rep. Phil Plummer, R-Dayton and former Montgomery County sheriff, said.
When he was sheriff, about 40% of people in the Montgomery County jail had mental health problems. Now it is more than 50%, according to Plummer.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Getting to people while they’re still young can put them on the path to being productive citizens, Plummer said.
“As a practicing emergency room physician, the youth and all the mental health (issues) that I’ve seen in the emergency room, this is going to fill the void,” State Sen. Steve Huffman, R-Tipp City, said.
The new hospital is a step forward in addressing mental health challenges in the state, said Gov. Mike DeWine.
“Mental health challenges can prevent Ohioans from living up to their God-given potential,” DeWine said.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
More information
Funding sources for the Mathile Center for Mental Health and Wellness:
- Gov. Mike DeWine and the regional delegation for the Ohio General Assembly allocated $25 million dollars to this project from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
- Congressman Mike Turner secured a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the project.
- The Mathile family donated a significant, but undisclosed, amount to the new hospital, and the family also matched another $3 million raised from the community.
- CareSource, a Dayton-based health insurer, donated $2 million in honor of Jayda Grant, daughter of University of Dayton men’s basketball coach.
- The “Do More So All Kids Thrive” campaign raised more than $24 million for this project.
Fast facts:
- Address: 860 Valley St. in Dayton
- Project cost: $110 million
- Construction and design:
- Danis Construction
- Cannon Design/FKP
- Clara Carpenter Designs
- Champlin Architecture
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