Ritchie Presents Petition Including 2,100 Signatures, Personal Stories to Albany Officials at Psych Center Listening Session

Joins More than 300 to Speak in Support of Psych Center

State Senator Patty Ritchie delivered a petition including 2,100 signatures and personal stories in support of the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center to Albany officials at Wednesday’s “listening session” held at the Center.

The signatures and stories were collected via www.savethecenter.net, a website Senator Ritchie created to allow people to sign her petition as well as share news and updates on the center.

“The purpose of today was to send a strong message to Albany that the St. Lawrence Psych Center is a vital part of the North Country, providing quality, life-changing care benefitting its patients and their families, as well as supporting hundreds of jobs” said Senator Ritchie. 

“The signatures and stories I was able to collect span the country and come from as far away as California, Texas, Indiana and Alaska.  I plan to keep the petition up and running to give people a way to show their support as Albany officials continue discussions about mental healthcare in New York State.”

In addition to delivering the petition, Senator Ritchie participated in a rally that took place in advance of the listening session and also joined more than 300 others at the listening session, where she spoke in support of the facility.

The Ogdensburg listening session was the last of 12 being held across the state to collect the public’s comments on a plan that could result in consolidation and reduced services at some of the state’s mental health facilities.