Lindner Families Donate $30 Million to Benefit UC for a Behavioral Health Center

A $30 million gift from the Craig and Frances Lindner and Carl H. and Edyth Lindner Jr. families to benefit UC will establish the Craig and Frances Lindner Center of HOPE (Helping Other People Excel) in the UC Department of Psychiatry and help build a behavioral health center in Mason, Ohio. The behavioral health center will be jointly operated by The Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati and the Lindner Foundation, and staffed by physicians from the UC College of Medicine.

The Lindner Center will be an overarching program offering comprehensive treatment services for adolescents and adults with psychiatric illnesses. An integrated program of patient care,

education and research will bring innovative care to mental illness and support to families of patients. The Mason facility would be the first freestanding mental health center built in the United States since 2001.

Craig and Frances Lindner and Carl and Edyth Lindner will make an initial gift of $10 million to establish the Lindner Foundation, a private charitable foundation to support the mission of the Lindner Center. An additional $20 million will be provided during the next four years by the Lindner families.

“Mental illnesses impact the lives of many people. It’s a privilege for our family to be involved with this state-of-the-science center, which will deliver comprehensive care and will support and attract the very best clinicians and researchers in this field,” said Craig Lindner.

The facility is expected to cost approximately $22 million with funding for the construction and working capital to be shared equally by the Health Alliance and the Lindner donation.

“The Lindner name is intimately connected with the University of Cincinnati,” said Nancy Zimpher, president of the University of Cincinnati. “We are proud to have their name associated with yet another important program. We also applaud the Lindners for identifying this need in our community and forming a partnership to better care for people with behavioral health problems.”

“We are very grateful to the Lindners for their confidence and support,” Ken Hanover, president and CEO of the Health Alliance, said. “Their gift made this much-needed facility possible and will allow people in this area to get top quality mental health services close to home. This unique partnership will offer a much needed service in a care setting that does not currently exist in the Greater Cincinnati area.”

Paul Keck, MD, professor of psychiatry at UC, will serve as medical director of the Lindner Center. Dr. Keck also will hold an endowed chair funded by the Lindner Foundation, pending approval by the UC Board of Trustees.

“This is a wonderful gift not only for the University of Cincinnati but also for the residents of our region,” said Jane Henney, MD, senior vice president and provost for health affairs at the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center. “We believe this generous gift will transform how we are able to meet people’s needs in the area of mental health. The Lindners are to be commended for their generosity, courage and foresight in addressing the emotional and mental health needs of adults and adolescents of our community. We already have first-rate physicians in this specialty, and the Lindners’ gift will allow us to recruit additional professionals and build a national research program for Cincinnati in the area of mental health.”

J. Randolph Hillard, MD, professor and chair of psychiatry at UC and medical director of the Health Alliance’s behavioral health services, noted that there are currently no behavioral health inpatient treatment facilities in Warren County, one of the region’s fastest growing population centers. In addition, the occupancy rate for behavioral health beds in the Greater Cincinnati area ordinarily runs at 85 percent or more, indicating the great need for the facility.

“At this facility, we will be able to provide types of treatment that are not offered anywhere in this region,” Dr. Hillard said. “This facility also will provide seamless integration of inpatient and outpatient care, which is unique among hospitals in this region.”

The one-story facility is planned for a secluded site on Western Row Road in Mason. The Health Alliance has a contract to purchase the land contingent upon zoning change and incentive approvals by the City of Mason.

The location would provide privacy and a serene setting for psychological and emotional healing. The center, estimated to be 75,000 square feet, would house 48 inpatient beds divided into three separate 16-bed units, two serving adults and one serving adolescents. The center also would provide facilities to treat patients on an outpatient basis.

The psychiatrists staffing the facility will have faculty appointments with the UC College of Medicine and will be dedicated to the facility on a full-time basis. Treatment plans will be individualized and will take into account physical, psychological, social, cultural, educational, spiritual and vocational factors.

The Health Alliance currently treats 50 percent of the inpatient behavioral health patients and about 71 percent of the structured outpatient behavioral health patients in the Greater Cincinnati area. Its inpatient programs are located at The Christ Hospital, The University Hospital, The St. Luke Hospitals and The Fort Hamilton Hospital, and its structured outpatient programs are available through The Christ Hospital, St. Luke Hospital West and The Fort Hamilton Hospital. For more information about the Health Alliance’s behavioral health programs, go to www.health-alliance.com/behavioral.

The UC College of Medicine is part of the UC Academic Health Center, which also includes the colleges of Nursing, Pharmacy and Allied Health Sciences in addition to UC Physicians, Hoxworth Blood Center and UC’s Genome Research Institute. Teaching and research affiliates include The University Hospital, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Shriner’s Hospital for Children.

The Health Alliance is an integrated health-care delivery system that includes The Christ Hospital, The University Hospital, The St. Luke Hospitals, The Jewish Hospital, The Fort Hamilton Hospital and the physicians of Alliance Primary Care.