AUBURN — Katrina Garrigan has been functioning for place psychological health corporations in one particular form or another for additional than 15 a long time.
Via tenures at Auburn Group Hospital, the Cayuga County Local community Mental Wellbeing Center, Upstate University Healthcare facility, the Finger Lakes Location Counseling and Restoration Company, and a number of other methods, the Union Springs native is acquainted with what the space has to provide for mental health services — and what it doesn’t.
In January, Garrigan was named East Hill Healthcare Center’s director of behavioral overall health. As a physician assistant, she will provide immediate services for older people, families and little ones. As director, she aims to evolve the recent office to far better integrate behavioral wellness and main care. She hopes to spread awareness and start filling in the gaps that exist in the Cayuga County place.
“My purpose is for East Hill to provide a service to the local community that’s lacking suitable now,” Garrigan explained. “I feel there are a great deal of sources, and I assume the neighborhood doesn’t know about them.
“I’m heading to be practising clinically, so I’ll see persons and truly recognize what they are not in a position to get right here in the neighborhood.”
Garrigan has previously identified the need for guidance teams.
“I feel that assistance groups are integral to folks,” she claimed. “There’s just something about being aware of that you’re not by itself that tends to make it improved or much easier to deal with distinctive scenarios.”
Garrigan, as a health practitioner assistant, will head the division that incorporates a healthcare assistant and a accredited scientific social worker who will join the team within the up coming couple of weeks. A physician assistant is a licensed well being treatment company who is capable to evaluate, diagnose and take care of medical situations. They can also accomplish methods, produce remedy programs, give education and learning and counseling, and prescribe medications as acceptable. The behavioral health division will also collaborate with psychiatrists Drs. Marcellus Cephas and Riaz Syed.
Currently, East Hill Clinical Center’s methods of adult medication, Duckett Loved ones Medication and Summit Pediatrics present grownup and children psychiatric evaluation, assessment, medicine management, each transient supportive treatment and intense psychotherapy, disaster assistance and care coordination. In the long run, Garrigan is hoping to provide the aforementioned help teams, situation administration, educational teams and several of the new therapy procedures rising in the behavioral well being care industry.
“I’m energized about Katrina signing up for the East Hill relatives, and the timing is perfect presented the county’s recently appointed community and social providers leadership,” East Hill Interim President and CEO April Miles stated. “I am confident Katrina’s passion for behavioral overall health and her push to construct group partnerships will position East Hill as the premiere behavioral wellbeing and substance abuse integrated most important treatment supplier in the area. This has been our organization’s eyesight for years, and I appear ahead to Katrina using the lead to make it a reality for the neighborhood.”
Garrigan has an extensive operate heritage in the local community, and is relying on some of all those interactions and methods to body East Hill’s services. Collaborator Dr. Syed is one of people very long-phrase colleagues. Garrigan has labored with him in various capacities for 15 decades and views Syed as a wonderful mentor and resource.


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Whilst there is a increasing require for psychological wellbeing providers in the region, primarily throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, she recognizes that it may be an uphill struggle to get people to find aid. For some, therapy even now carries a stigma. This is a person reason East Hill is driving this to be part of the primary care places of work, which normalizes holistic treatment.
“I have a large amount of colleagues in the spot that are from a variety of professions,” Garrigan explained. “I’ve been reaching out to them and asking, ‘What would make this much easier?’ ‘How can I make psychiatry more approachable?’ ‘What would make folks sense safe and sound?’”
Garrigan is in the exceptional situation as an administrator and a wellbeing care company, which will give her the selection to employ policies that are based on serious-globe practical experience and requires. She has a Bachelor of Arts in organizational administration from Keuka University. When it came time to determine her up coming phase, she relied on the information of a colleague. They informed her a medical professional assistant program would give her the clinical knowledge she wanted to put into practice constructive modifications by means of guidelines. Garrigan graduated from Le Moyne College in 2017 with a Learn of Science in health practitioner assistant reports.
She labored in organizational administration for a decade, and as a physician assistant since 2017. Garrigan thinks that her dual track record will support her serve the corporation far more efficiently.
“It’s so quick to sit in an office environment and say, ‘Why is not it completed like this?’ or ‘How about we just do this?’ if you’ve by no means had to use that policy to a affected individual or set it in a real-globe condition. If I had not gone back again to college, I would have been 1 of those men and women who sat in an place of work and stated, ‘I never comprehend why you can not get 15 minutes to do this,’ or established a time body for a thing.”
Garrigan is committed to producing the plan profitable. As a Cayuga County native, and somebody who nonetheless life in the place, she has sturdy ties to the neighborhood. Her moms and dads, Dave and Lisa Rouse, have two profitable organizations, Pete’s Treats in Union Springs and Classic Cones in Auburn. She is established to help those people who have to have it.
“East Hill is devoted to superb affected person treatment and is genuinely forward-contemplating,” Garrigan claimed. “I’m pretty intrigued in supporting folks, earning persons come to feel improved and helping them do well. I assume that this firm meets that regular — it shares that intention.
“Ultimately, we want to be certain entry to solutions and means for all people in the group.”
Michelle Prego-Milewski is challenge assistant for East Hill Household Healthcare, a federally experienced wellness center in Auburn that provides grownup drugs, addiction, dental, reproductive health and pediatric providers. For much more information and facts, pay a visit to easthillmedical.com.