To the Editor:

We are writing to voice our concerns about the proposed closure of SLPC.

It was decided by the Department of Mental Health to close this facility. The next nearest facility that would be open for these patients would be over 130 miles away.

This will place an undue hardship on the patients and families. There will not only be an economic burden on the families for travel but there is, more importantly, an additional mental burden on the patients. The patients will not have the close family support that is so critical to the healing process.

What will happen when the next nearest facility, Utica, is at maximum capacity?

How far then will the families need to travel for treatment? Care for the patients and families must be the primary factor in the decisions being made.

The staff at SLPC is second to none and the care these patients receive will be affected not only by the distance they will have to travel but by the overall quality of care they receive.

We are not down grading the facility at Utica in any way, but I believe SLPC is superior.

A third point that needs to be mentioned is the economic impact this closure will have not only to the staff and families that work at SLPC but on our community in general.

St. Lawrence County is the most economically depressed county in New York State as of the last time we looked. That the Department of Mental Health would not take the full picture into consideration is very upsetting to us.

The travel issues, superior care at SLPC, and the economic issues mentioned above must be addressed.

This decision must be reversed to insure proper care for the mentally ill of St. Lawrence County and the surrounding areas.

Please take this into consideration and have the decision to close SLPC reversed.

Drs. Christopher and Tracy LaFlair

Ogdensburg