TESTIMONY BY SENATOR PATTY RITCHIE

48th Senate District NYS Office of Mental Health Listening Session St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center
May 15, 2013

Commissioner Woodlock, on behalf of the North Country, I would like to welcome you to Northern New York, St. Lawrence County, and the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center. For over 123 years, this Center has been a source of compassionate careand strengthto countless families and individuals in the St. Lawrence River valley, Northern Adirondacks and Central New York. Thank you for coming here today to listen to some of the people whose lives have been improved by the work at this center. Today you will hear today about how important this hospital is to our economy. You will hear about the 550 jobs so critical to a region with one of the highest rates of unemployment in all of New York State. You will hear about the quality of the care here, and why the St. Lawrence Pysch Center is already considered one of the besttruly a Center of Excellence. But I want to hear some other voices as well: stories that are included in the Petition that I am presenting to you today. Over 2,000 people took the time to sign this petition in support of St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center. THIS COMMUNITY SUPPORTS ST. LAWRENCE PSYCHIATRIC CENTER let there be no doubt. Over 600 shared their comments, including personal stories about how the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center helped them in their lives, and in the lives of family members and loved ones.

People with nowhere else to turn, found life-saving help here. One man wrote that the men and women who work here helped heal our whole family. More than one describes how the St. Lawrence Psych Center saved their life, or the life of their child. People who now live as far away at California, Texas, Indiana, Alaska. Each touched by the compassionate care and strength they received from the St. Lawrence Psych Center. They couldnt be here today to tell their stories firsthand, so they asked me to relay the message. I hope that you and your staff will take the time to read through these stories; to look at the outpouring of support for this facility. I hope you will also look at a map of Upstate New York. And you will see the lack of Interstate highways and mass transit across Northern NY. That you will understand how difficult it is to have to travel hundreds of miles for care and life-saving services that may no longer be available closer to home. We all know that New York faces budgetary challenges. We also are acutely aware of our need to ensure adequate care and services for people who need them the most. As you seek to balance those two, I ask you to keep in mind the tradition of excellent carelife-saving carethat St. Lawrence Psych Center has provided to the people of this region for over 123 years. I ask you to recognize the need that still exists. And I ask you to see a community that strongly supports the mission of this institution.

Thank you, Commissioner, for coming here, and listening to the people of the North Country. #####