Mercy held a “Wall Breaking” event marking the start of construction on the new Mercy Kids Therapy and Development Center, a state-of-the-art space that will serve as the hub for diagnosis and testing for children with neurodevelopmental concerns in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

The new center, located at 1415 Elbridge Payne in Chesterfield, will repurpose an existing Mercy building and increase the center’s footprint from 12,000 square feet to 43,000 square feet.

“Mercy Kids is the largest provider of autism and other neurodevelopmental services in the region, yet waitlists for services are long and many children in need are unable to access services,” said Dr. John Mantovani, pediatric neurologist and medical director of the Mercy Kids Therapy and Development Center. “The new space will enable us to serve more families and expand services including ABA, or applied behavioral analysis, therapy.”

As the $16.1 goal nears, Mercy Health Foundation St. Louis is working to meet the remaining amount through a challenge grant from the Mabee Foundation. Visit the Foundation website to learn more about the grant or make a donation.

Upon completion, Mercy Kids plans to double the capacity of our current evaluation and treatment programs, develop a comprehensive learning/ADHD program and expand our NICU follow-up program.

“Patient visits have shown a steady upward trend with just over 9,000 visits in 2011 to more than 30,000 in 2023,” Dr. Mantovani said. “We look forward to being able to care for even more families when the new space opening next summer.”