January 17, 2009
MENTAL HEALTH CENTER WING DEDICATED
By Mary E. O'Leary, New Haven Register
NEW HAVEN — State Rep. Patricia Dillon, D-New Haven, Friday not only was thanked for her contribution to the expansion of the Connecticut Mental Health Center, but was "canonized" as well.
"I consider her the patron saint of this project," said Dr. Shelby Jacobs, chief executive officer of the center, at a dedication ceremony that marked the opening of the $13 million wing at the Park Street facility.
The addition will house the relocated and expanded Hispanic Clinic, as well as expanded neuroscience laboratory space and several new meeting and conference rooms.
It was funded with $5 million in state money and $8 million from Yale University, while a second phase that will entail a major renovation of research space will cost $6 million and will be covered entirely by Yale.
Dillon pushed for state bonding assistance for the expansion a decade ago after discussions with Dr. David Kessler, former dean of the Yale Medical School, who saw a need for better services for the growing Latino community in Greater New Haven.
Dillon said she was well aware of the problems that can occur when clinicians are not bilingual or don't have access to competent translators, based on concerns she heard from her husband, a physician, who was working at a local health clinic.
At that time, the problem was a lack of interpreters for Italian patients, but the need for Spanish-speaking practitioners is crucial now. "I knew what kind of barriers language can create," Dillon said. "I was very excited they were so proactive," she said of the medical school.
The mental health center is a regional state facility that treats low-income patients, with a special program for the homeless, while it is also a training and research center for the Yale Medical School.
Much was made of the partnership between Yale, the state and the city to support the center. "This is a persistent public-private partnership that has worked for more than four decades and it really works in every dimension," said Yale President Richard C. Levin.
Not only does it serve people with mental illness and substance abuse problems, as well as educate professionals, but it invests in research, which is very costeffective, he said.
There was no animus among the partners Friday, who were in a battle last year over parking costs.
The center had to start paying for parking after the surface lots owned by the state were turned over to the city — a cost that was scheduled to increase dramatically once workers were shifted to a privately owned garage.
To exert some leverage in the discussions, the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services was given a strip of land the city was interested in using for development. State Sen. Toni Harp, D-New Haven, said she expects this land will now be turned over to the city.