The state Legislature hopes to increase the state’s mental health services

After more than two decades in office, Assembly Member Aileen Gunther is retiring at the end of this year. The Hudson Valley Democrat has served as chair of the Assembly’s mental health committee for 11 years. Her work advocating for mental health funding and other health care issues over the years has been informed by her experience working as a nurse and HIV counselor. 

City & State spoke with Gunther about her accomplishments in office and how the state can do more to help New Yorkers with mental health challenges. This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. 

What’s your opinion on the governor’s $1 billion mental health plan and its progress so far?

When I took over mental hygiene for the Assembly, there were many more beds available to people and also the length of stay was longer. And as a nurse, I actually worked on the mental health floor for quite a few years. What I have seen over the years, they have lessened the number of days people can stay in a bed in the hospital. I think it's so important that that has to change. When you give medications for mental hygiene, it's just not the same as if you had a blood pressure issue. You really have to observe the patient and see what the signs and symptoms are, is it effective, etc. I'm disappointed about that. I don't think it's the right thing to do, and it's all about insurance companies and how long they let them stay in the bed. 

The other thing they did was they decreased the number of beds in New York state, but now Gov. Hochul is trying to increase them again. In my hospital, we had a mental health unit. Now, we see people in the emergency room and then they get shipped off to another county. That's happening all over the state of New York. 

What do you make of the progress so far on getting more psychiatric beds?

There’s just not enough. A lot of times, people with mental health issues remain in an emergency room. It could be one day, two days until they get a bed, it could be longer than that. Those beds are very important and I think that, whether the reimbursement is right or wrong, they need to open these beds. 

And the other thing is access to care for children – social workers in schools, increasing them. But these schools need money, and communities need money. We have one child psychiatrist in Sullivan County, believe it or not.

Are there any key bills that came through the Assembly Committee on Mental Health this session and passed?

There’s A07395, which requires the Office of Mental Health to establish a peer service qualification program. Another one that passed that was (Assembly Member Pamela) Hunter’s bill, A08485. That was an important bill – requires the Office of Mental Health to identify information and training programs relating to the diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder for military veterans. And there was (state Sen. Kevin Parker’s) bill which requires the Office of Mental Health to establish a training program for the diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder.

I have a couple of more related to involuntary and emergency admissions. I think that’s an important one. That means that a patient can choose a hospital of their choice. Sometimes people that have mental health (challenges), they’re very comfortable in a certain hospital. 

As you near retirement, what accomplishments are you particularly proud of from your time in office, whether on mental health or other issues?

I think I’ve been a loud voice on the issue. In my community, I’ve done more than many. I’ve brought a lot of money back, which is taxpayer money, but I always advocated for that. I did a lot with people in my community. A lot of people know me as a nurse, and our door was always open. Lots of people just come in and we talk to them. We find housing, we find food, we find appointments to doctors, we do all kinds of things. We do a lot of social services in our office. 

I’m going to miss my job terribly. Sometimes, we make decisions quickly. I have a child that was in some issues, and I was focusing on her and I made the decision. I plan to continue to work in my community, some way or another.