One in five U.S. adults experience mental illness each year (National Alliance on Mental Illness). Every year Mather Hospital’s Emergency Department treats more than 3,000 patients who are suffering from mental illness and/or substance use disorder.
- An analysis of adult responses to questions about anxiety, depression, and spleeplessness experienced during the height of the pandemic found that one-third of Americans have experienced high levels of psychological distress. (Pew Research Center).
- The Centers for Disease Control estimates 104,288 people died in the U.S. from an overdose in the 12-month period that ended in September 2021, marking an increase of nearly 16% and roughly 14,000 more deaths than the previous year. Nearly 70% of those deaths are from opioid overdoses.
- In 2020, Suffolk County had more than 400 fatal opioid overdoses, a 25% increase in just two years.
- Opioid overdoses in Suffolk County have continued to outpace New York state over the past decade.
While there are helplines and resources, Mather Hospital is listening and wants to partner with patients and families to help provide needed care.
Mather wants to provide a broader scope of behavioral health services in the community and relieve some of the pressure on the Emergency Department by creating a central building that will house our various mental health and substance use disorder treatment programs for adults and adolescents. This center will:
- provide patients with immediate appointments and prescriptions, directing them to the appropriate level of care.
- assist patients with maintaining sobriety by aiding with withdrawal symptoms, subsequent urges and cravings.
- strengthen interventions in the ED for opioid patients in need of immediate access to outpatient suboxone services.
- increase capacity in the Adolescent Psychiatric Partial Hospitalization program to assist patients with co-occurring disorders (addiction and mental illness).
- enhance telehealth communications, as appropriate, with patients who are unable to come for in-person visits, allowing the Center to be as flexible as the patient needs without compromising on quality of care.