WRVO Public Media will hold a community health forum at St. Elizabeth Medical Center on Tuesday, April 22 at 3 p.m. in the Sister Johanna and Sister Rose Vincent Conference Rooms. This panel discussion is free and open to the public. It will last approximately one hour and will be followed by audience questions.
The forum’s subject is "The Changing Nature of Mental Health Care Delivery in New York State" and will focus on the mental health system in upstate New York. The forum’s three panelists are Shawn Johnston, licensed master social worker, St. Elizabeth Medical Center; Linda Nelson, Central New York field office director, New York State Office of Mental Health; and Matthew Shapiro, development and event coordinator for the National Alliance On Mental Illness New York State.
The panel will be moderated by Catherine Loper, WRVO director of news and public affairs.
On the state level, reorganization and cutback proposals seem to impact psychiatric health centers and the communities they are located in year after year. On the federal level, the Affordable Care Act is changing all aspects of healthcare – including mental health. This panel of regional experts will explore the needs and future of mental healthcare in the region – and how government funding and changing social, demographic and economic are changing both.
This is one of a series of health forums WRVO is holding on public health issues throughout its listening region. The forum will be broadcast on WRVO at a later date. Support for the forum comes from the Health Foundation for Western and Central New York.