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Tompkins County
HEALTH DEPARTMENT
55 Brown Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
(607) 274-6600
FRANK KRUPPA
Public Health Director
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2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Mental Health and Emotional Well-Being
- Tips for Everyone about Well-being
- Check-in Video with Aaron Volk
- Mental Health Resources During COVID-19 for Tompkins County
- Substance Use Disorders Resources During COVID-19
- Headspace Mindfulness and Meditation
For Everyone:
The outbreak of COVID-19 around the world has led to the spread of fear and panic for individuals and communities. In addition to following physical precautions guidelines, individuals should be taking care of their psychological well-being.
- Reduce anxiety by reducing risk. Practicing good hygiene, create a plan in case your regular routine is disrupted, (remote work, childcare. Setting out a plan can help reduce anxiety by taking charge of the things you can control.
- Manage your information flow by choosing reliable sources and establish boundaries on checking for updates. Continuously scrolling through social media or constantly refreshing the news is likely to lead to increased anxiety. Pick a few trusted news outlets, and commit to checking once or twice a day for updates.
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Monitor your anxiety levels. Knowing the difference between typical and atypical stress is important. Monitoring your stress level will let you know when you need to seek additional help.
- A typical stress reaction may include: temporary difficulty concentrating; irritability and anger; fatigue; stomachache; and, difficulty sleeping.
- An atypical stress reaction may include: a persistent and/or excessive worry that doesn’t lift and keeps you from carrying out your daily tasks. If you experience significant changes in your energy level, eating patterns, or sleeping patterns, difficulty concentrating on normal tasks, prolonged and overwhelming worry and hopelessness, or thoughts of self-injury or suicide, seek out immediate help at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text Got5 to 741741.
- Practice good self-care, including exercise, eating healthy foods, and sleeping an adequate amount at night. If possible, spend some time outside. Avoid staying up late.
- Virtually reach out to different types of support networks, to strengthen your overall feeling of connection. Isolation and loneliness feeds anxiety.
- Find meaningful tasks and roles within your support network to channel your anxiety. Supporting others is beneficial to the supporter as well.
- Find or create spaces that are not focused on COVID-19. Start a social media thread about other topics, ask friends to discuss other topics, or watch your favorite TV or movie.
- Savor small positive moments, amplify positive stories, and stay optimistic. Try to cultivate a mental wellness practice, such as writing in a gratitude journal, or talking nightly with your family about moments during the day that were fun or enjoyable.
- Take an opportunity to practice mindfulness when managing anxiety. Mindfulness tools like grounding exercises, sensory modulation, and deep breathing may be helpful.
Mental Health Resources
The County Mental Health Department has compiled a listing of Mental Health Resources during the COVID-19 period when businesses and agencies are closed by executive order. Following is a summary listing of the resources. For full details, please download the PDF here, or use the contact information provided below. Note that all resources are subject to change without notice. We will update the list and PDF as needed.
The NYS Office of Mental Health Services (OMH) has set up a COVID-19 Emotional Support Hotline for mental health counseling. Call 1-844-863-9314.
Tompkins County Department of Mental Health, (607) 274-6200
Clinic Services Offered
- All therapy services provided by phone or Zoom.
- Psychiatric services including medications and client contacts being done by phone or Zoom.
- Nursing injectable services are being done on site with safety protocols in place.
- Crisis and intake services are provided by a small rotating team that are onsite. If someone comes to the building safety protocols are in place.
- 24/7 Mobile Crisis team available still with safety protocols in place.
PROS Services Offered
- Classes are provided via Zoom.
- Individual services provided over the phone or by Zoom.
- Nursing injectable services are being done on site with safety protocols in place.
- Crisis and intake services are provided by a small rotating team that are onsite. If someone comes to the building safety protocols are in place.
Care Management Services
- All services provided by phone or zoom
- Assessment for immediate needs such as assistance with food or pharmacy.
- Continue to work with member’s providers to link/connect our members to viable community resources that they may need;
- Provide all necessary supports to help our members navigate through this difficult time
Cayuga Medical Center, 607-274-4011
Refer to MH Resources PDF for information related to Emergency Department, Adult, and Adolescent services
Family & Children’s Service, 607-273-7494
Family & Children’s Service is providing tele-mental health services (counseling and psychiatry) to current clients through both telephone and video chat platform.
- Intakes for new clients are available by telephone Monday through Thursday, 9am to 5pm, and Friday, 8am to 4pm. Call (607) 273-7494 for all requests; calls will be returned as soon as possible.
- The building will remain closed to the public until further notice.
- Download the MH Resources PDF for details
The Mental Health Association in Tompkins County, (607) 273-9250
The Mental Health Association in Tompkins County (MHATC) is open Monday–Friday, 9:00 AM–2:00 PM. At this time we are not accepting walk-ins; please call 607-273-9250 to speak with someone and/or schedule an appointment. There is no fee to access our services.
Peer Specialists
The MHATC has New York State Certified Peer Specialists. Peer Specialists share their knowledge, offer emotional support, teach skills, provide practical assistance, and connect people with resources and opportunities. In behavioral health, peers offer their unique lived experience with mental health conditions to provide support focused on advocacy, education, mentoring, and motivation. Peer Specialists also work one-on-one as role models, mentors, coaches and advocates and support people in developing psychiatric advance directions and creating Wellness Recovery Action Plans (WRAP).
Family Support Services
The MHATC also provides Family and Caregiver Support Services. Family Support Services are delivered by Certified Family Peer Advocates. They provide an array of services to support and empower families with children and adolescents having serious emotional disturbances. The goal of family support is to reduce family stress and enhance each family's ability to care for their child. Services include but are not limited to education and information, individual advocacy, and family support groups.
Jenkins Center
In order to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and help keep our community safe, our Jenkins Drop-in Center will remain closed to walk-ins until further notice.
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Finger Lakes, (607) 273-246
- Working to transition to a virtual environment. Support Groups will begin again on April 7 via virtual meeting platform. Assessment of the need for services and programs is ongoing.
- Call the local Help Line (607) 273-2462 or email help@namifingerlakes.org. Visit namifingerlakes.org for updates on support and education opportunities.
- Download the MH Resources PDF for details
Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service, (607) 272-1616
The Crisisline is open. Call 1-800-273-TALK or 607-272-1616.
Substance Use Disorder Services
Alcohol & Drug Council, 607-274-6288
Full outpatient treatment (including Open Access) staff is available daily via telephone and video.
- Assessments
- Via Medication Assisted Treatment
- Individual Counseling Sessions
- Referrals
- Group Counseling Sessions via Zoom
Call 607-274-6288 for more information, or to schedule an appointment with our clinical or medical staff.
- Prevention and Education staff are also available Monday through Friday and plan to have virtual activities.
- Impaired Driver Program is suspended for now.
- Download the MH Resources PDF for details
Cayuga Addiction Recovery Services, 607-273-5500
Outpatient
- All appointments are being conducted via telehealth
- New clients may call to get assessments if they are not a current patient
- Continuing phone outreach that services are still available
OTP
- Dosing schedule have been modified to reduce the number of people in the outpatient building at any one time
- Telehealth appoints are being done when appropriate
- Continue to take admissions
- Continuing phone outreach that services are still available
Residence
- Capacity reduced to 52 to provide quarantine space if needed
- Reduced programming to accommodate for staff shortages
- Evaluating patients with a safe place to discharge home to free up beds for clients coming from higher levels of care. Prioritizing higher levels of care referrals accordingly
- Continue to accept referrals
The REACH Project, Inc. 607-273-7000
Email: contact@reachmed.org
402 North Cayuga St.
Ithaca, New York 14850
Updated Hours: Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
In response to COVID-19, REACH Medical is proudly providing full care and services to all of our patients via telehealth, with some in person appointments available at our Cayuga Street location. We offer a wide range of services in a stigma-free, inclusive setting including:
- Medication Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder
- Hep C/HIV Testing Treatment
- Primary Care
- Behavioral Services
If you have an URGENT need, please call the normal office number of (607) 273-7000. While we can accept walk-ins on a very limited basis, we ask that you please call ahead of time, to ensure that we continue to limit the spread of COVID-19.
The REACH Project Inc. is a nonprofit organization with the belief that all individuals deserve respectful, equitable, access to compassionate healthcare in a setting where they will not be stigmatized or judged based on drug use, homelessness, or any other issue that may cause less than adequate care in today's healthcare environment.
Headspace Mindfulness and Meditation
New York State is partnering with Headspace, a global leader in mindfulness and meditation, to offer free meditation and mindfulness content for all New Yorkers as a mental health resource for residents coping with the unprecedented public health crisis. New Yorkers can access a collection of science-backed, evidence-based guided meditations, along with at-home mindful workouts, sleep and kids content to help address rising stress and anxiety at headspace.com/ny.