CVPH to temporarily close Child Mental Health Unit

By JEFF MEYERS
Staff Writer

May 16, 2008 04:00 am

— PLATTSBURGH -- The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Unit at CVPH Medical Center will close Monday for about eight weeks while its medical director takes a temporary leave of absence.
Dr. Diane Zuniga, the hospital's only full-time psychiatrist, has been director of the 12-bed unit since it first opened in February 2001.
Officials at the Medical Center would not comment on the reason for the medical leave, but CVPH President Stephens Mundy said the closure was not directly related to negotiations with the state to improve funding for both the Child and Adult Mental Health units at the hospital.
Many fear the hospital will close the units if the State Office of Mental Health and Department of Health can't offer better reimbursement rates.
Mundy, who was out of town Thursday, did say in a news release issued by the hospital that CVPH is making headway with its funding request in Albany and that he is "cautiously optimistic" about the future of the two units.
He also suggested that the upcoming closure is indirectly related to the concerns raised by community members because, he said, the hospital has been unable to recruit other physicians since the suggestion of closure became public seven months ago.
"It has become virtually impossible for us to recruit psychiatrists," CVPH Director of Marketing and Public Relations Michael Hildebran said Thursday afternoon.
"It's always challenging (to fill such positions), but when psychiatrists learn that things are in a state of flux, they have not wanted to come here on a permanent basis.
"If we had another psychiatrist (in the Child and Adolescent Unit), we wouldn't be forced to shut down like this."
The hospital has been operating the Adult Unit with temporary psychiatrists during its search for full-time replacements.
There are two patients now in the Child and Adolescent Unit, and Hildebran said they will either be discharged by Monday or will be transferred to another unit in Saratoga, Troy or Ogdensburg.
The unit has averaged between 285 and 350 patients each year since 2005, but figures are typically higher during school months, Hildebran noted.
"The timing is good, in that school is letting out, and historically services are very low at this time of year. Typically, we'll have zero patients to no more than five at any given time on the unit."
Youths who need to be admitted for mental-health services during the closure will be transported to the closest facility possible, he added.
The unit's 26 staff members were notified of the plans Wednesday and will be given the opportunity to work in the Adult Mental Health Unit or other positions in the hospital during the shutdown.
jmeyers@pressrepublican.com

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