New York City Mental Health Clinics Get New Owner. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Raquel Nolasco, Daily News, New York Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Apr. 9--Donna Serrant, unit chief in the adult outpatient department at the 1475 Fulton St. clinic, hails change. Four Bedford-Stuyvesant mental health clinics have been taken over from their cash-strapped owner by Interfaith Medical Center.

By order of the state Office of Mental Health, Interfaith actually took control of the clinics from their owner, Bedford Stuyvesant Medical Center, two months ago. However, the transfer was only publicly announced by state and Interfaith officials and Borough President Marty Markowitz late last month.

The clinics taken over are: 1360 Fulton St., which houses a program for HIV patients; 1124 Bedford Ave., a day treatment facility; 1475 Fulton St., an adults-only mental health program and 1473 Fulton St., which has a program for children and adolescents.

Interfaith spokeswoman Melissa Krantz said the medical center 'is very experienced, has been serving the community for many years, and ... [is] well-equipped' to run the newly acquired clinics, which serve an estimated 300 patients a day.

'We welcome running these clinics, that will provide critical services for this underserved neighborhood,' said Interfaith President and CEO Michael Kaminski.

Office of Mental Health spokesman Roger Klingman said the Bedford-Stuyvesant Mental Center had severe financial problems.

The goal, said Klingman, 'was to help ensure that mental health services would be available to people in the community,' and would be 'programmatically and fiscally sound.'

Joseph Lazer, director of the New York City field office of the Office of Mental Health, said the level of care at the four clinics should improve now that Interfaith is in charge.

The Bedford-Stuyvesant Medical Center had only a Tier One Office of Mental Health certificate to operate the mental health clinics, while Interfaith will be issued a Tier Three certificate.

Tier Three, Lazer explained, is issued after an operator has met the highest state standards for levels of patient care and services.

Donna Serrant, a unit chief in the adult outpatient department at 1475 Fulton St., was enthusiastic about the change in ownership.

'We were pleased that we were taken over by a very large hospital,' she said.

Interfaith runs more than 90 clinics in Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights, as well as Interfaith Hospital facilities on Atlantic Ave. and Prospect Place -- the former St. John's Episcopal and Brooklyn Jewish Hospital facilities.

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