Save Elmira Psychiatric Center!

As you may know, Governor Cuomo has announced plans to shut down inpatient services and diminish the overall role of the Elmira Psychiatric Center beginning next year.

In July, the Governor announced a planned statewide reorganization of the State Office of Mental Health (OMH). The plan called for shutting down nine psychiatric hospitals throughout New York next year, including the Elmira Psychiatric Center, which will be merged into a regional center in Buffalo.

The Elmira Psychiatric Center is an important regional asset, serving the entire Southern Tier, Finger Lakes, and Western New York. It has a strong record of being one of the State's most efficient, innovative, high quality, cost effective, and successful providers of mental health services. It is an irreplaceable center that has been a source for accessible, compassionate care for patients, and a first responder providing treatment for those in need.

I am joining with other local leaders, Elmira Psychiatric Center administrators and staff, patients and their families, and other concerned citizens to rally public support for saving the Center.

We are making the case to Governor Cuomo that it doesn't make sense, fiscally or programmatically, to put regional mental health care at risk by downsizing this facility and eliminating services.

To stay informed on our ongoing efforts, and to sign our online petition to save Elmira Psychiatric Center, please visit: www.nysenate.gov/webform/Join-Fight-Save-Elmira-Psychiatric-Center.

You can also directly contact the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) by visiting here, or Governor Cuomo by clicking here.