Assemblymember Roberts Will Fight to Maintain Mental Health Services in Central New York

July 12, 2013

“The Hutchings Psychiatric Center helps individuals with psychiatric disabilities to lead fulfilling lives and provides invaluable services for youth and adults in Central New York. Unfortunately, the Office of Mental Health’s plan to close a 30-bed inpatient unit for children and teenagers has the potential to disrupt these critical services and create adverse effects on the patients and families who rely on the center. Forcing these young individuals to travel farther from home and their loved ones to seek treatment is an added burden that they should not be subjected to.

“The potential job loss that could result from these bed closures is also a major concern. I will fight to protect the dedicated staff who devote themselves to helping our vulnerable populations. Although layoffs are not a part of the released plan, it remains to be seen what impact these closures will actually have. I will continue to study the effects of this plan and work with local and state officials to save these services that have demonstrated to be valuable to our community.”

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