mental

A vacant building in Cortland is set to house the mental health department serving the county and central New York.

Lack of funds kept counties from using "assisted outpatient treatment" services in the past.

Eight years ago, the state slashed $84 million targeted toward these programs and many services were eliminated. Now, advocates fear they could be on the chopping block again.

According to health insurer Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, about a third of all the telemedicine visits from its patients in upstate New York last year were used for behavioral health services, up from 25% in 2018.