Vienna’s fourth child and adolescent psychiatric outpatient centre (KJPA) is set to open in the 21st district, Floridsdorf, by the end of the year, accommodating up to 600 patients, city officials have announced.
“The new outpatient centre will not only provide care for up to 600 children and adolescents per year, but also offer treatment in a day clinic setting if necessary,” said Ewald Lochner, Coordinator for Psychiatry, Addiction and Drug Issues for the City of Vienna.
The KJPAs are part of the city’s Psychiatric and Psychosomatic Care Plan, in place since 2018. The new facility will be headed by Dr Caroline Di Maria, who previously worked as a specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry at the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, and will focus on borderline personality disorder.
“An outpatient setting offers numerous advantages for young people with borderline personality disorder and can be the appropriate form of treatment in many cases,” Di Maria said in the press release. “Young people remain in their familiar social environment, which allows for contact with family, friends and school. These social structures can be important sources of support and contribute to stabilisation.”
Two more outpatient centres are to follow, bringing the total to six. The centres will be jointly funded by the city and the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK), with each covering 50% of the costs.
