The Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago has announced a $6.45 million gift from members of the Pritzker family to support the Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health.

The gift will support several department initiatives, including a collaboration with the Patrick M. Magoon Institute for Healthy Communities; research and evaluation components for interventions of the Center for Childhood Resilience that address health needs from a public health perspective; a strong research agenda, including recruiting a national leader to further develop the department’s research infrastructure; and new specialty clinics for the three most common diagnoses in the department: anxiety, depression, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

In 2019 the Pritzker Foundation awarded $15 million to name the department.

“This generous gift from members of the Pritzker Family will help build the scientific infrastructure of the Department so we can develop and implement innovative interventions to address the mental health impacts from the pandemic,” said John T. Walkup, head of the Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health. “Funding collaboration between the Magoon Institute and the Center for Childhood Resilience helps to promote systems change, increases access, and reduces mental health disparities so that we can have an impact far beyond the hospital’s walls. I’m so pleased that this contribution enables us to invest in our current staff and recruit nationally known leaders who, together, will establish Lurie Children’s as the national leader in child and adolescent psychiatry.”

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