Kaiser Permanente's Mental Health Screenings for Preteens Expand Beyond OC
Updated: Aug 20, 2020
"He tried to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge at 14." Dr. Vincent Valenzuela is reading a hospital report regarding a young patient he saw two years ago at Kaiser Permanente's Santa Ana medical offices. The pediatrician's eyes skim through the report in disbelief. "At his last physical, there weren't any red flags, but we also didn't have this screening tool," Valenzuela says, referring to a mental-health questionnaire for preteen patients that Kaiser now gives during annual physicals. "Had we had this screening at 11 or 12, maybe we could have gotten him some help before he tried to do something."
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