THE VOICE OF THE EAST VALLEY SINCE 1891 AND WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR LOCAL REPORTING
New high school opens in Mesa
THE SUNDAY
Tribune
PAGE 4 Chandler/Tempe Edition
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS.......................... 7
Mesa schools ramp up student mental-emotional help.
COMMUNITY ........12 Red Mountain students to pitch to space agency.
BUSINESS ................... 16 Canines can live in luxury at new Mesa dog camp
This Chandler bakery serves spooky treats
EAST VALLEY
PAGE 22 Sunday, July 28, 2019
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE THE EAST VALLEY) | EastValleyTribune.com
Children in crisis, not enough help BY CECILIA CHAN Tribune Staff Writer
W
hen Phoenix Children’s Hospital opens its multi-specialty outpatient clinic in January in Gilbert, it will bring much-needed behavioral health care to children and teens. The East Valley — like the rest of the country — is seeing skyrocketing mental health diagnoses among children and adolescents in emergency departments. The problem is exacerbated by a shortage of professionals to deal with them — adding to the anxiety of parents who try to help their children. ER visits “for kids who come in for complaints of suicide and behavioral problems
First plans filed for upscale NE Mesa community
in the past 10 years continue to increase,” said Dr. Randall Ricardi, chief of psychiatry at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. “Partly, (population) growth is a driver and also I think better recognition of disorders in kids and adolescents and as a result more people come forward for care,” he added. The need can be seen in the number of pediatric patients who attempted suicide — and the rising number who complete it. In the East Valley alone, 35 teens — some as young as 13 — have taken their lives in the last two years. In 2008, two pediatric patients were brought to Phoenix Children’s emergency department for attempted suicide. In 2016, that number reached 497, according to hospital data. And in 2008, Phoenix Children’s registered
64 pediatric patients in its emergency department with suicidal thoughts. By 2016, that number jumped to 553 patients. Overall, an estimated 17.1 million U.S. children are affected by a psychiatric disorder, making mental health ailments among the most common pediatric illnesses, according to a 2018 study by Children’s National Health System in Washington, D.C. Roughly 2 to 5 percent of all emergency department visits in the nation by children are related to mental health concerns. That underscores the importance of improving access to outpatient mental health resources and expanding capacity in emergency departments, according to the study.
Turquoise hunter
see HEALTH page 6
BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
FOOD ............................22 These pancakes will swirl you over.
COMMUNITY.................. 12 BUSINESS..........................16 OPINION...........................19 SPORTS ............................20 GETOUT.............................22 CLASSIFIED.......................27 A New Beginning Can Start Now!
C
onceptual plans have been submitted to the city that describe how an essentially untouched swath of desert auctioned off by Mesa would eventually turn into an upscale community with big lots for close to 300 homes. The plan for the gated community — dubbed Reserve at Red Rock by developer Blandford Homes — is a first draft for a 132acre site originally set aside for development of a park in 1998. Now it will be home to “a high level gated, resort lifestyle residential community,’’ ac-
see RECKER page 11
MEDICATION A DRUG & ALC DEPENDENCY TR
Tony Otteson of Mesa and his family mine for turquoise - an increasingly scarcer stone. The family’s challenges and triumphs at their mine in Nevada will be the subject of an INSP Network TV next month. Read about the Ottesons on page 8. (INSP Network)
ADDICTION TREATMENT TODAY • FRIENDLY • DISCREET • DETOX AT HOME
We offer evidence-based solutions customized to our patients’ needs • Out-patient • Suboxone, Vivitrol available • Individual & Group Counseling - Most Insurance accepted -
7331 E. Osborn, Suite 410, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 www.truesolutionshealth.com
CALL (480) 550.7842 For a confidential Consultation