Wolfson Children’s Hospital has received a $3 million donation toward a new inpatient behavioral health unit, courtesy of the Players Championship Village.

Players Championship Village officials and Baptist Health President and CEO Michael Mayo announced the gift Wednesday during Mental Health Awareness Month.

The Wolfson donation is the first from the Players Championship Village, which provides mental health and substance abuse care for adolescents. But it is the third from the Players Championship, which has provided $3 million in total in recent years to benefit child health and injury prevention programming at the Players Center for Child Health at Wolfson Children’s.

The 20-bed Behavioral Health and Wellness Unit is expected to open in about a year on the third floor of Wolfson Children’s Hospital. The new facility, which will cost a total of $9.5 million, will replace space previously occupied by the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, which moved in 2022 to the Borowy Family Children’s Critical Care Tower.

Pediatric emergency room visits related to mental health are expected to grow by 9% across the country, while inpatient stays are expected to increase by 11%, Wolfson Children’s Hospital President Allegra Jaros said in a news release. As a primary provider of inpatient pediatric mental health services, Wolfson has worked with community organizations on ways to fill gaps in services to help families, she said.

Article continues below

More from Jax Today

Violence erupts in stands at Florida-Georgia game

Potential Hurricane Rafael forms in the Caribbean

‘Agrihood’ coming to a vote in St. Johns County

Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Wolfson Children’s Hospital currently has a 14-bed Larry J. Freeman Behavioral Health Unit at the J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver Tower, in addition to an eight-bed behavioral health pod in the main Wolfson Children’s Emergency Center. In addition to inpatient and partial hospitalization behavioral health services, Wolfson Children’s provides outpatient consultation, evaluation and treatment for children and adolescents.

Mayo, the Baptist CEO, noted that the relationship between Baptist, Wolfson, the Players Championship and the PGA Tour goes back many years.

“Our entire community continues to be strengthened because of this long-time collaboration,” Mayo said in the news release. “We could not be more grateful for this significant $3 million gift from the Players Championship Village Inc. toward inpatient pediatric behavioral health care, but also for their decades of work to meet the needs of underserved teens at risk for or recovering from substance abuse addiction.”

Players Championship Village board member Mike Hartley said: “The Players Championship Village has a long history of ensuring that young people in our community have the right foundation for success. This partnership with Baptist Health and Wolfson Children’s Hospital will have a life-changing impact for children and adolescents in need of critical behavioral health services.”