Samaritan begins mental health unit expansion

WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) - Samaritan Medical Center is expanding the emergency department’s secure unit for behavioral health.

“Our region continues to battle the mental health crisis needs in this rural community,” said Tom Carman, president and chief executive officer of Samaritan.

Construction has started to expand the unit from five beds to 12.

Samaritan announced the start of work Friday, and said it was necessary because the hospital’s emergency department is seeing more psychiatric patients, and in particular, more young people needing psychiatric help.

Why is this happening? There is no one reason, the hospital notes, but the Covid pandemic is a player in the increase in mental health problems, with “more stress, anxiety, isolation and breaks in outpatient care.”

“We were having an increase in behavioral health emergencies, and what was happening in regards to that is we were spilling over into our medical beds, and we were trying to find a way to alleviate that,” said Tina O’Neil, Director of Mental Health at Samaritan Medical Center.

The psychiatric patients are waiting longer in the emergency department when they need to be hospitalized, according to the press release.

“The current physical space to help safely stabilize these patients is not adequate within the emergency department’s current behavioral health unit.”

‘Secure’ means the unit is locked, and individual rooms can be locked.

The project will cost $2.5 million, paid in part by money from the Samaritan Foundation, the Children’s Miracle Network, and money from the state Attorney General’s settlement with drug companies connected to the opiate crisis.

One change you may notice if you’re in Samaritan frequently: the current coffee shop in the lobby will move to a different space in the lobby.

The expansion is expected to be completed by next summer.

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