Syracuse (WSYR-TV) -- Work will soon start on a $4 million expansion to the Syracuse Behavioral Healthcare facility. It will meet a growing demand for people with substance abuse issues and mental disorders.
What used to be the former Jacobsen Store in the Learbury building, will soon turn into the new outpatient facility for Syracuse Behavioral Healthcare. Once it’s renovated, patients on the road to recovery will be able to get counseling and education services. It’s expected to be quite a change from the current James Street location.
President of Syracuse Behavioral Healthcare Jeremy Klemanski told NewsChannel 9, “Right now, the counselors, there are two or three people in an office, which isn’t ideal in a clinical setting.”
The new space is almost double the size of the current patient facility and will allow for more patient privacy.
The bigger building will allow the facility to serve up to 150 patients more per year and give them better care in a more comfortable setting. And it comes at a time when the number of those needing help is going up. Because of that, some patients who aren’t in an emergency situation are waiting weeks for their appointments. It’s a delay that could have serious consequences.
"They might need more acute services, which are more devastating to them personally, might affect their job, their family and might ultimately cost all of us more in increased healthcare costs because they're now being seen in an emergency room,” Klemanski said.
It’s a situation they’re hoping the expansion will alleviate.
The new outpatient clinic is expected to open in September. Once that happens, the current one will be renovated into a detox facility.
