State formally opens youth behavioral health outpatient clinic at Greater Binghamton Health Center

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — The New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) on Wednesday formally opened the new behavioral health outpatient clinic for children and adolescents at the Greater Binghamton Health Center (GBHC).

The new clinic will serve young people between 5 and 17 years old, the state said in a Wednesday news release.

The total cost of the renovation project was $676,000, which included interior demolition and construction, furniture, flooring, painting, and artwork.

When the project began in 2017, the clinic served about 335 children and adolescents. Today, the clinic has about 550 clients, the state said.

The new clinic space will improve access to services for members of the community and consolidate children’s services under one roof, “greatly improving overall efficiency.”

Previously, services and administrative operations for the outpatient clinic were located in three separate locations, which “created inefficiencies and delays.” Now, services are all located under one roof on the second floor of the Keeler building on the Greater Binghamton Health Center campus.

In addition to increasing staff efficiency, the central location will make it “much easier” for families to access the clinic, “especially those using public transportation.” The additional space and group rooms will allow the clinic to host clinic and community provider meetings, treatment team meetings, as well as educational opportunities for GBHC staff. The renovations also include the addition of a 25-space parking lot and designated clinic client parking at both the front and rear entrances of the Keeler building.

Clinic services

Services provided at the outpatient clinic include “open access,” a mental-health program within the clinic with “no appointments and no waiting lists.” Patients can stop in five days per week to initiate services with an intake coordinator and a clinician.

It also provides telepsychiatry, which offers services that include psychiatric evaluations, therapy (individual therapy, group therapy, family therapy), patient education, and medication management.

Telepsychiatry “removes transportation barriers, reduces delays in treatment and provides convenient, affordable and readily-accessible mental health services,” the OMH said.

The outpatient clinic also offers individual and family therapy with individualized treatment planning, provided in collaboration with schools and other community providers;

It also offers psychological testing and a mobile integration team that provides additional support and links to community-based services.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com