SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Even though he runs an agency that provides mental health and drug abuse treatment services, Jeremy Klemanski had trouble getting help for his own 15-year-old daughter when she was struggling with depression a year ago.
"There is nothing worse as a parent than knowing your child is suffering and you can't get them help," said Klemanski, president and CEO of Syracuse Behavioral Healthcare, SBH for short.
It took him weeks to get his daughter, Liliana, mental health care "because there were so many kids in our community already on line," Klemanski said.
He's hoping a new SBH clinic eliminates that wait for other parents and their children. Klemanski and his daughter spoke at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the clinic today.
The clinic, which opened July 1, provides services for Central New Yorkers of all ages going through a mental health and/or substance abuse crisis. The clinic, part of a two-year federal demonstration project, allows SBH to offer services for the first time to children and teens. The agency is adding a 9,500-square-foot child and adolescent center in its clinic at 329 N. Salina St., Syracuse.
The clinic's goal is to provide care to children immediately, Klemanski said.
"This is going to be a safe landing place for families and children," he said.
The clinic will see patients on a walk-in basis 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Patients also can call the clinic at 315-471-1564.
A severe shortage of pediatric inpatient and outpatient mental health services is a long-standing problem in Central New York. Syracuse area parents often must travel out of town to find care for their kids. A recent report by a task force convened by Rep. John Katko, R-Camillus, and Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli, D-Syracuse, called for an increase in mental health services for Central New York chidlren.
State statistics show nearly 7 percent of New York 12- to 17-year-olds struggle with alcohol/drug abuse, more than 113,000 are not getting needed alcohol or drug treatment, and nearly 108,000 had at least one major depressive episode.
The new clinic will cost about $8 million to operate annually and increase SBH's caseload by 500 to 800 patients. It will serve patients who are covered by Medicaid, private insurance and people who are uninsured. SBH is in the process of hiring an additional 40 employees, from clerks to psychiatrists, to staff the clinic.
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