NewHavenBIZ

16 n e w h a v e n B I Z | M a r c h 2 0 2 3 | n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m Crisis Care By Liese Klein W hen it's completed later this year, the new Recovery & Wellness Center to be operated by Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center will be the centerpiece of a nearly block-long campus in the heart of New Haven's Hill neighborhood – the largest center for addiction and mental health treatment in the state. CEO Michael R. Taylor said the demand for mental health and addiction services is at an all-time high in the New Haven region and he hopes the expanded health center will be enough to meet the growing need. "Before the pandemic, there was always a need for behavioral health services and unmet need," Taylor said at a beam-laying ceremony for the center on March 1. "But with the pandemic, that need has now turned into demand and people really need help. at demand is exponentially greater than it was pre-pandemic. We can't keep up with it." Mental health and addiction services providers in and around New Haven are expanding and adding services as the nation continues to confront a surge in mental health issues and drug use. Drug overdose deaths in Connecticut have been increasing steadily over the last decade, from 357 in 2012 to a high of 1,524 in 2021, according to state Department of Public Health data. ere was a slight decline in deaths to 1,432 in 2022, although that number may be revised upward as cases are determined. New Haven and Hartford are the sites of most of the state's deaths and many of the users, according to the state. New Haven County is also home to the state's largest share of addiction- services providers. With post-pandemic stressors adding to residents' mental health challenges, drug addiction is a growing issue, health providers said. Nonprofit and for-profit providers are responding with more programs and treatment slots. Of increasing concern are potent substances like fentanyl and the animal tranquilizer xylazine, involved in a growing number of overdoses and drug deaths nationally. "e way to address this problem is not by criminalizing addiction, but by treating it," New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said. "What we're doing in New Haven is working with our partners to expand access to people for treatment." Mental health stressors New Haven's Public Health Department meets regularly with providers including Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center and the APT Foundation as part of its Harm Reduction Taskforce, an effort to reduce overdose deaths and lessen stigma around substance use. A recent joint effort is the new Mobile Addiction Treatment Team, which travels the city in a specially equipped van that offers medication assisted treatment with no appointment needed. Drug users can also get their substances or paraphernalia tested for deadly contaminants at a city site at 270 Congress Ave., with no questions asked. Stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic and its aermath have worsened mental health in many New Haven-area communities and led to a rise in the numbers of both new substance abuse cases and relapses, said Dr. Ece Tek, chief medical officer for mental health and addiction services at Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center. "With COVID there were issues with people accessing needed services," Tek said. "But now, post-COVID, we are seeing higher rates of substance use, as well as mental health issues, complicated by ongoing stressors like employment, housing and all this anxiety." For the first time in decades, Tek is also seeing a large increase in the number of people over age 65 seeking addiction treatment. "ey are using hardcore drugs – they are using fentanyl, they are using heroin," he said. "So this year, for the first time in my life, I'm admitting people to methadone service at age 72, at age 68. It was not the case before." e health center has reacted by planning to expand its addiction- treatment services across the board, including at the 31,000-square-foot new facility on Minor Street. Once completed, the building will host 12 therapeutic shelter beds for women compared to the four beds currently available. erapy slots will be doubled when the Recovery Center is in operation, and 20 additional staff are scheduled to be hired, including more addiction psychiatrists and psych APRNs, Tek said. Facilities will also be renovated and expanded at the neighboring South Central Rehabilitation Center, and the two buildings will form an integrated campus allowing for more patients to access all levels and modes of treatment in one location. Even with the additional capacity, Tek worries that substance use in the New Haven area may continue to trend upward. Addiction treatment providers expand as drug-use surge intensifies Dignitaries and Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center leaders gather to lay a final beam at the organization's new Recovery & Wellness Center in March. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED

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