Office of Primary Care and Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program

Maureen Leahy, M.Ed., director of psychiatry and neurology health care services for the UVM Health Network

(OCTOBER 15, 2024) Maureen Leahy, M.Ed., director of psychiatry and neurology health care services for the UVM Health Network, commented to NBC5 about mental health resources expanding across Vermont and New York.

Experts at UVM Health Network say that as conversations around mental health continue, one challenge has become clear: Many communities lack accessibility to mental health resources. Leahy says that has left many people seeking support in the emergency room, which isn’t the best place to receive personalized and specialized mental health care. “It sparked the conversation around how could we do this differently,” she says.

That conversation has developed into a partnership between UVM Health and the Howard Center, which is working to open Burlington’s first Mental Health Urgent Care. The Burlington center is just one example of alternative mental health care services opening across Vermont. The Washington County Access Hub in Montpelier opened just a year ago, and similar services can also be found in the Northeast Kingdom, Addison County, and more. In the North Country, it’s been just around a month since Behavioral Health and Addiction Services in Plattsburgh launched a new in-person crisis center, and just this week the Essex County Health Department launched an online platform with CredibleMind where anyone can take a free assessment and be connected with a mental health provider.

Leahy said these alternative solutions are working to meet people where they are, not only making resources more accessible but also providing a greater variety of options to serve anyone looking for mental health care.

“I am super excited about all of these projects because it lowers the barriers that have been in place for a long time due to restricted resources or limited resources for mental health,” she said.