KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Officials with the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine say a recent $1.52 million gift from anonymous donors in the Kalamazoo community will serve as a catalyst for expanding access to child and adolescent psychiatry care in Southwest Michigan.
The money will be used for the Dean’s Endowment for Clinical Excellence in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, officially established in October, to support the recruitment of up to three child and adolescent psychiatrists to WMed and includes $20,000 available for immediate use.
Eric Achtyes, MD, MS, DFAPA, professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry, said the anonymous gift comes at a critical time because of a substantial shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists in the region with a need for more than 70 additional specialists to adequately care for the existing patient population.
“This gift is transformative, there’s no other way to describe it,” Dr. Achtyes said. “It is bold and visionary for these donors to step forward and make a difference through their incredible generosity. Literally, this will mean that thousands of children who otherwise would not have access or would have to go outside of our region for this care will now have access to local child and adolescent psychiatrists and the treatments they provide.
Recruitment for the three new positions has already begun by the Department of Psychiatry.
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