Oswego Health readies new mental health and wellness center

OSWEGO, N.Y. — Oswego Health is getting ready to open its Lakeview Center for Mental Health and Wellness later this month.

The health system has renovated 42,000 square feet of the former Oswego Price Chopper store location at 29 E. Cayuga St. in Oswego for the new mental health and wellness facility. It will include 32 inpatient beds.

The project costs $17 million, including $15 million for design and construction and $2 million for furniture, fixtures, and equipment, Jamie Leszczynski, senior director of communications for Oswego Health, tells CNYBJ in an email.

The Hayner Hoyt Corporation served as the general contractor on the project, while Oswego Mechanical Inc. handled the plumbing and the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning work. King + King Architects of Syracuse completed the design work.

The project also included “many” subcontractors for specialty work that included roofing, framing and sheetrock, and painting, per Leszczynski’s email. 

Oswego Health Foundation will allocate a $5,000 grant from Walmart toward the upcoming Lakeview Center, per a Jan. 5 news release. Walmart’s Local Community Grant program awarded the funding. Oswego Health Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Oswego Health. 

“Walmart is happy to help support this important expansion in our city,” Ken Cook, manager of the Oswego Walmart store, said in a statement. “This is something that will help a lot of people who may not have been able to receive care without this program.”

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n addition to this grant, Walmart has previously provided the Oswego Health Foundation with in-kind gifts and support of yearly events, Oswego Health noted. 

The New York State Department of Health in July 2017 awarded Oswego Health a $13 million grant for the “transformation of its behavioral health services” in Oswego County, Oswego Health said in October 2019, when announcing the project’s groundbreaking. 

About the Lakeview Center

As “the only” behavioral-health services inpatient and outpatient provider in Oswego County, Oswego Health has built its facility specifically to provide this specialized care, the organization said. 

The new location includes secure outdoor spaces, comfortable interior areas, and a kitchen area. In addition, Oswego Health will also provide primary-care services on site to help those that use the facility “become healthier overall.”