Thursday, May 22, 2025
Ansonia Public Works' summer hours to start Monday
Effective Monday, May 27, Ansonia Public Works will begin their summer hours.
End date to be announced at a later date.
Shared from the City of Ansonia Facebook page.
Ansonia Splash Pad at Nolan Field to open June 14
From the City of Ansonia Facebook page:
Woo Hoo!! The Ansonia Splash Pad opening date will be June 14, 2025!!
Get your bathing suits ready.
Hewitt Foundation donates $1M for EmPATH unit at Griffin Hospital in Derby
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An EmPATH unit that will offer a new approach in behavioral health is planned at Griffin Hospital in Derby.
DERBY - A $1 million gift from The Hewitt Foundation has enabled the establishment of Connecticut's first Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment, and Healing (EmPATH) Unit at Griffin Hospital.
This pioneering unit represents a bold step forward in addressing the growing demand for mental health crisis services, offering specialized help to Connecticut residents in desperate need of specialized care.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 41% of adults in Connecticut have experienced symptoms of anxiety or depression, while 121,000 adults are living with serious mental illness.
“The Hewitt Foundation is honored to support Griffin’s pioneering efforts in behavioral health crisis care,” said Harry P. DiAdamo, treasurer of the Hewitt Foundation. “We encourage individuals, foundations, and businesses to join us in making this vision a reality and in ensuring a healthier future for those desperately in need of focused and compassionate help.”
With a shortage of behavioral health services statewide, individuals in emotional crisis are often brought to hospital emergency departments (EDs) by crisis centers, law enforcement, and well-meaning family members.
However, EDs are limited in their ability to provide the therapeutic care required, leaving many without the specialized support they urgently need.
“Over the past three years, mental health crisis cases at Griffin Hospital’s Emergency Department have surged by 50%, with one in seven patients seeking crisis care,” said Maria Dawe, MD, Chair of the Griffin Health Psychiatry Department. “This influx not only overwhelms our capacity - it delays care for all patients.
“The EmPATH Unit will expand services for community members in psychiatric crisis with a compassionate, dignified and patient-focused approach in a specially designed and reserved environment. This approach exclusively focuses on improving and expediting positive outcomes.”
An EmPATH Unit represents a new approach in behavioral healthcare, offering a calming therapeutic space for patients in emotional crisis. Unlike traditional EDs, this unit prioritizes rapid, personalized care in a soothing 4,300 square-foot environment that includes a large, open common space with high ceilings, natural light, exterior views, and soothing décor.
Staffed by psychiatrists, social workers, and trained nurses, the EmPATH Unit will feature sensory rooms with patient-controlled lighting and music, which will act as a safe space to help regulate emotions, tables for socializing, a nourishment station for snacks, shower room, and physician consultation and family rooms for visitors.
The evidence for this approach is compelling. Similar pioneering units across the country have stabilized 75% of patients experiencing psychiatric emergencies in less than 24 hours, reducing the need for hospitalization, and decreased crisis readmissions by 25%, all while eliminating many of the traumatic aspects of traditional emergency psychiatric care.
Recognition opportunities for visionary donors
Additional support is needed to fully realize Griffin’s transformative vision.
By joining this effort, donors have a rare opportunity to be part of a revolutionary approach to mental health care that will serve as a model throughout Connecticut and beyond. Donors will also have a special opportunity to be recognized within this innovative space through naming options, including the main treatment area and individual healing rooms.
To view an insightful video and learn more about the EmPATH Unit as well as naming opportunities, visit griffinhealth.org/supportempath or contact Griffin Hospital Development Fund Executive Director Kristy Jelenik at kjelenik@griffinhealth.org or 203-732-7539.
This is a press release from Griffin Health.
Tween Book Club to meet June 4 at Derby Public Library
DERBY - Have you read this? Are you in the process of, or interested in doing so?
If yes, why not come join our [Derby PublIc Library's] new book discussion/club for "tweens" (ages 9-12) on June 4 at 5:30 p.m.
Our next book is The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys & Steve Sheinkin.
This historical adventure follows two siblings at Bletchley Park, the home of WWII codebreakers, as they try to unravel a mystery surrounding their mother’s disappearance.
Books are available for checkout in the children’s department. Light refreshments provided.
To register for the June 4 session, please click/tap here: https://derbypubliclibrary.libcal.com/event/14614420
Shared from the Library's Facebook page.
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