The mission of the Division of Community Mental Hygiene Services is to enable persons with mental illness, developmental disabilities and substance abuse and their families to access an appropriate array of services and supports to maximize an individual’s potential within the family and community.

County law directs the Department of Health Services to hold two public health hearings each year.  A hearing was held this spring in Hauppauge.  The purpose of these hearings is to obtain input from county residents as to the quality of the health care delivery system and how it services their needs.  Residents who are unable to attend the hearing and wish to submit testimony are encouraged to send written testimony to the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, Attention:  Grace Kelly-McGovern, 3500 Sunrise Highway, Suite 124, P.O. Box 9006, Great River, NY 11739-9006. Written testimony will be accepted until November 15, 2012.

Great River, NY—Commissioner of Health Services James Tomarken extends his gratitude to the Community Ambulance Company of Sayville for saving the life of a local resident. On Monday, September 17, 2012, at 10:30 p.m., several members from the Community Ambulance Company received a call that a woman at a residence in Sayville was having chest pains.

Great River, NY – Suffolk County Commissioner of Health Services James L. Tomarken said today that the New York State Department of Health has confirmed a human case of West Nile virus, the third human case in Suffolk County this year.  The individual, who is over 55 years of age and from the Town of Islip, was hospitalized in August with symptoms consistent with West Nile virus. The patient is currently undergoing rehabilitation.

Hauppauge, NY – Suffolk County Health Services (SCDHS) Commissioner James L. Tomarken announced that seven additional mosquito samples have tested positive for West Nile virus. The mosquito samples, collected between September 6 and 7, were from locations in Amagansett, East Northport, Nesconset, Ridge, Manorville, Selden and Southold.   To date this year, 208 mosquito samples and a total of 38 birds have tested positive for the virus.