KINGSTON – The Westchester Medical Center Health Network announced on Wednesday that it will establish 20 in-patient mental health beds in the newly expanded HealthAlliance Hospital campus in Kingston and 60 similar beds at its MidHudson Regional Hospital in Poughkeepsie.
“The reality is health and wellness doesn’t stop at municipal borders,” Westchester network Executive Vice President Joshua Rattner said during a Wednesday announcement in Kingston.
Ulster County Executive Patrick Ryan has led the charge to restore mental health beds to Kingston after they were pulled two years ago.
“Since the pandemic we have seen suicides in our county double, we have seen fatal opioid overdoses up 93 percent, and so certainly the need has only grown,” he said.
Ulster County Mental Health Commissioner Tara McDonald lauded the announced return of those in-patient beds.
“The addition of 20 in-patient psychiatric stabilization beds in an over $100 million beautiful state-of-the-art facility is a concrete acknowledgement for the commitment that this community has made to those that are challenged with behavioral health issues and concerns,” she said.
When those beds were moved to Poughkeepsie, Ryan led the charge along with the community to return that care to Ulster County.
