����������

���������� Note: ���������� is very pleased to congratulate and thank Sherrie Gillette for her years of exemplary service and contributions to advancing the health and recovery of people in Clinton County, which is at the top of the ‘North Country’ and sits astride the Canadian border. We wish her all the best in her new life…and, given her regular participation at so many of our conferences and forums, hope she stays active in our family.

We are also delighted that our long time Board member and supporter Peter Trout will be serving as the new director of Clinton County’s Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. Peter brings several decades of expertise and commitment to promoting recovery, rehabilitation, rights and community integration to his new post and has been a pioneer in ���������� for his establishment of the state’s first Personalized Recovery Oriented Services program. Congratulations to Sherrie and Peter!

��

Mental-Health Leader Reflects On Changes, Goals

By Jeff Meyers ��Plattsburgh Press-Republican�� July 5, 2014

��

PLATTSBURGH — Clinton County has seen some impressive upgrades in mental-health services during Sherrie Gillette’s leadership.

She is stepping down as director of the Clinton County Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services after nearly a decade and will retire to her hometown in Oneonta.

“It is certainly bittersweet,” she said of her retirement. “I’ve met a lot of wonderful people (while at Plattsburgh), but I’m looking forward to going home.”

Peter Trout, a long-time administrator for Behavioral Health Services North, will take over as director of the Clinton County agency, expected on board within the next few weeks.

��

WAIT TIMES REDUCED

When Gillette first arrived in the North Country, the county’s mental-health services were overwhelmed by long waiting lists before clients could be seen by providers.

“We had as many as 150 people on the waiting list, and they were waiting up to six months and longer to see clinicians,” Gillette said.

“One of the first things we wanted to tackle was to do away with that waiting list.”

One of the answers to that backlog was the establishment of a walk-in clinic at the center’s Ampersand Avenue facility.

Clients do not need an appointment and are now usually seen by a clinician within 30 minutes, Gillette noted.

��

INTEGRATED AID

The agency merged its two separate functions — mental-health services and help overcoming addiction — following Gillette’s arrival, further improving the connection with clients.

“There is so often an overlap,” she said, between mental-health disorders and addiction to alcohol and drugs. “By providing integrated services, we can more efficiently meet the needs of those people.”

The merger also translated into more efficiency in the day-to-day operations of the agency, she added. Having all services under one roof eliminated repetition in billing, reception and medical records.

��

OUTREACH SERVICES

Most recently, the agency has expanded its services by opening satellite stations at several doctors’ offices across the county.

“We currently have satellite clinics in five offices, including two pediatric offices,” Gillette said.

“Our clinicians are going out to where the people are. They are working collaboratively with primary-care physicians.”

Satellite clinics are available at the CVPH Health Center on Margaret Street, Urgicare on Hammond Lane and at Hudson Headwaters on Route 11 in Champlain, where Dr. Maurice Racine practices.

Mountain View Pediatrics and Plattsburgh Pediatrics also have satellite clinics operated by Mental Health and Addiction Services.

Doctors and other health-care providers at those five locations provide the county agency with referrals, with the approval of the patients. Clinicians visit the doctors’ offices for regularly scheduled hours at least once a week.

��

COMFORT LEVEL

The program connects primary-care services with mental-health services, a partnership that has often been missing for people with mental-health needs.

“Some people are very uncomfortable coming down to the clinic (on Ampersand Avenue) but feel very comfortable going to their doctor’s office,” Gillette said. “It’s important that we offer services where people are most comfortable.”

The satellite services also offer clients an opportunity to receive mental-health care when they normally would not be able to travel to the central clinic, she added.

The county is looking to add more satellite clinics in the future, Gillette noted.

��

EMBRACED CHANGE

Gillette started her career in 1975 with the Montgomery County Mental Health Clinic and then took a job at St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam in the in-patient psychiatric clinic.

During her 20-year stay at St Mary’s, Gillette helped develop a wide range of addiction-treatment services before taking the position in Plattsburgh.

“I have to say that Clinton County has been great to work for,” she said. “The community has been very welcoming, and the staff has really embraced change. It’s been a very good experience.”

��

MAKING IT WORK

Gillette said Clinton County has made “great progress” in improving mental-health and addiction services, “but we’ve still got a lot more to do.

“The integration between health care and behavioral-health care is critical, and we have to be much more focused on outcomes — that what we’ve been doing works for people.”

��

��

��