CareSource Donates $2 Million to Support Dayton Children’s Behavioral Health Expansion

Dayton Children’s announced today a $2 million donation by CareSource to support its new behavioral health building. The building, announced in May, will nearly double the number of inpatient beds available for children in a behavioral health crisis.

The $2 million donation from CareSource was made in honor of Jayda Grant, daughter of Anthony Grant, University of Dayton men’s basketball coach, and his wife, Christina. Jayda passed away in May 2022. The donation was announced last night at an event held at the home of CareSource president and CEO, Erhardt Preitauer, to an audience of corporate leaders from the Dayton community.

“The conversation around behavioral health must focus on the well-being of children,” said Preitauer. “Working together to expand the behavioral health resources at Dayton Children’s not only honors the light and love Jayda and her family have brought to our community, it is paramount in addressing the whole health of our youngest community members.”

While children’s mental health concerns were growing rapidly prior to the pandemic, COVID-19 only exacerbated the already untenable situation. Even though Dayton Children’s opened a behavioral health inpatient unit in July 2019, those 24 beds are not enough to care for the growing need. The new behavioral health building, breaking ground next year, will:

• Double the number of behavioral health inpatient beds currently available at Dayton Children’s
• Allow expansion for specialized program development
• Allow for strengthened and smoother continuity of care by bringing behavioral health inpatient, outpatient and crisis services all under one roof
• Provide customized outdoor space that is critical to healing
• Create operational efficiencies and improved communication through cross-trained staff, proximity and access

“We are so grateful to CareSource for its support and for shining a light on this critically important issue,” said Debbie Feldman, president and CEO of Dayton Children’s Hospital. “This donation will go a long way toward helping us meet the growing need for behavioral health services. As always, it is the gracious support of a generous community that helps us take every project from good to great.”

Last year, more than 200,000 of CareSource’s youth members had an identified behavioral health diagnosis.

Regarding CareSource’s donation, Anthony and Christina Grant provided the following on behalf of their family:

“We are very grateful to CareSource for their generous donation to support the expansion of the Dayton Children’s Behavioral Health Facility and their compassion towards our family by honoring the memory of our beloved daughter and sister, Jayda Danielle Grant. Jay was diagnosed with anxiety and depression and was in therapy and treatment at the time of her passing. Our hope is that this expansion will help provide more resources and increased synergy to what Debbie Fieldman has appropriately identified as ‘the health care crisis of this generation.’ We are grateful for the love, prayers, and support we’ve received and for the commitment of the doctors, therapist, corporate & individual partners, and everyone in between that are working to make a difference in the lives of those impacted by Mental & Behavioral Health challenges. Thank you and God Bless.”

Dayton Children’s behavioral health building is expected to be complete in 2025.