NUMC opens new mental health care suite

The Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow has opened a newly remodeled mental health clinic — a state-of-the-art facility designed to provide comprehensive mental health services to some of Long Island’s most vulnerable populations.
NUMC, which is overseen by the Nassau Health Care Corporation, previously housed its mental health facilities in the J Building, which is one of the many buildings on its campus.
The medical center and NuHealth, the health care network that the hospital is part of, has provided adult outpatient psychiatric services to Nassau County residents for 42 years, including comprehensive psychiatric care and psychotherapy, delivered by both psychologists and psychiatrists.
The mental health clinic has played an important role in the county’s health care services for decades, Meg Ryan, the medical center’s interim president and chief executive, said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 23.
“We receive referrals from all over Nassau County — the courts, the correctional center, division of social services,” Ryan said. “It has the largest training program in Nassau County for both psychiatric residents and psychology interns and externs.”

After touring the mental health clinic in the J Building, Ryan said she felt the hospital could “do better.”
“It was immediately clear to me that we could do better for our patients, and we certainly could do better for our staff,” she explained.
The building lacked an elevator, central air conditioning and was in poor physical condition, and the estimated cost to repair the J Building was $2 million, hospital officials said.
Hospital administrators said they then decided to convert the space in its main building that previously housed its Covid-19 vaccine clinic during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. The suite was large and useful at the time, but was no longer being utilized, Ryan said. In addition, the cost to make the space work for its mental health services was only $62,000.
The enhanced space features upgraded security, air conditioning and modern amenities, providing a more comfortable environment for patients and staff.
The cost of the renovation was offset by donations of $25,000 from the law firm of Abrams Fensterman, and $1,000 from the Kiwanis Club of East Meadow.
Matthew Bruderman, chairman of the board of directors for the Nassau Health Care Corporation, reminded those attending last week’s ribbon-cutting ceremony that NUMC is one of three “safety net” hospitals in New York, serving all patients, regardless of their ability to pay.
The hospital has made great strides in fixing its financial state, Bruderman said, and its work is reflected in new spaces, such as the mental health clinic.
“It’s about patient care, it’s about employee care,” he said. “It’s about caring about the community. This team, this hospital — I think it’s just an amazing organization.”
Bruderman called mental health “fundamentally important.”
“The opening of this clinic marks a new chapter in NUMC’s long history of serving the needs of our community,” he said. “