It’s the college’s first graduate-degree program in its 195-year history 

CAZENOVIA — Cazenovia College is accepting applications for its first-ever master’s degree program, which provides instruction on clinical mental-health counseling. 

It represents the school’s first graduate-degree program in its 195-year history, the school said in an April 30 news release.

Instruction on the degree program begins this fall, Tim Greene, director of communications and marketing at Cazenovia College, said in an email response to a CNYBJ inquiry.

Professors Christina Bobesky and Mary Handley will lead the program, the school said.

“By adding our first-ever graduate program in clinical mental-health counseling to its degree offerings, Cazenovia College meets not only individuals’ educational requirements for professional advancement, but also the mental-health needs of our community,” Cazenovia College President Ron Chesbrough contended in the release.

The clinical mental-health counseling program at Cazenovia College prepares students for mental-health counseling in individual, family, and group settings.

The program is structured to allow students to complete 60 credit hours of course work within two years by attending class year-round via late afternoon/evening and online classes. 

Students will also complete 15 credits of clinical experience to include a practicum (100 hours of supervised counseling experience) and an internship (700 hours of supervised counseling experience). 

“Having a clinical mental health counseling program at Cazenovia College is an incredible new asset for our community of providers,” Sara Haag, director of family services at Liberty Resources and associate lecturer at Cazenovia College, said in the school’s release. “There are many vulnerable client populations in rural Central New York, so the more professionals who can be educated and trained locally, the more assistance that can be provided to those who need it most.”

Those interested in learning more about the master of science in clinical mental-health counseling at Cazenovia College, can visit www.cazenovia.edu/gradprograms or contact gradprograms@cazenovia.edu. 

In addition, the school will hold an open house for the new degree program on June 4 from 4-7 p.m. in the Witherill Room of Hubbard Hall on the Cazenovia College campus.         

HERKIMER — The woman who had been serving as a program coordinator for Herkimer County HealthNet is now serving as the organization’s executive director.

The nonprofit on April 30 announced it had appointed Elyse Enea to succeed Dr. Thomas Curnow, who retired from HealthNet at the end of 2018. 

Herkimer County HealthNet offers programs to address health and human-service needs in Herkimer County, seeking to improve the health of area residents.

“Elyse has vast knowledge of the organization and is passionate about the work that HealthNet does in the community,” Kathy Fox, president of the organization’s board of directors, said in a news release. “The board is looking forward to working with Elyse to continue to improve the health and well-being of individuals in Herkimer County.” 

Fox introduced Enea at the HealthNet board of directors meeting on April 22. She has been employed by Herkimer County HealthNet since February 2013. Her work has included implementing each of the “Mohawk Valley Mile” programs in the villages of Frankfort, Ilion, and Mohawk, and two programs in the village of Herkimer. In addition, she received her certification as a master trainer in the chronic disease self-management program. 

She is also a diabetes self-management peer leader and teaches the management program along with a program on living healthy with high blood pressure. 

“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead Herkimer County HealthNet. I look forward to being a part of the effort to bring this non-profit organization to the next level, making a positive difference for even more individuals who live, work, play, and learn in Herkimer County,” Enea said.

Prior to returning to Herkimer County and helping out her father at the Vincent A. Enea Funeral Service in 2011, Enea worked for Siguler Guff & Company, a private-equity firm in Manhattan, as well as Gaston Alive! magazine, a monthly publication in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

Elyse holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Le Moyne College in Syracuse and an associate degree in mortuary science from the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

Enea also serves on the boards of directors for the Herkimer County Chamber of Commerce and the Samaritan Center of the Mohawk Valley. She is also the current president of the Mohawk Valley Rotary Club.      

SYRACUSE — The recruitment process continues for a permanent regional director for Crouse North, an entity that Syracuse–based Crouse Health and three affiliate hospitals in Northern New York have established.

It includes representatives from the leadership and board of directors of each hospital involved. They include Crouse Health, Carthage Area Hospital, Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center in Ogdensburg, and River Hospital in Alexandria Bay.

Crouse North is overseeing the coordination of clinical and physician services in the North Country region, the organizations said in an April 23 news release.

In addition to his role as CEO of Carthage Area Hospital, Rich Duvall is currently serving as the interim regional director of Crouse North until the entity can recruit a permanent director.

As the recruiting effort continues, Crouse North is moving forward under Duvall’s interim leadership, Robert Allen, VP of communications & government affairs at Crouse Health, said in an email response to a CNYBJ inquiry.

“We will be evaluating potential candidates from both within the Crouse North system as well as from the outside,” Allen added.

Crouse North’s role in the North Country will be to provide the foundation for coordinating health-care services among its participating hospitals and growing their services, according to Duvall.

“Crouse North provides the structure and strategic support to enable coordinated planning and provider recruitment moving forward,” he said in the release. “Our goal is to enhance access and care delivery for the communities we serve by developing an integrated, system approach to strengthen and grow clinical and operational services among the affiliated partners.”

Duvall continued, “With our strong focus on keeping health care local, this structure will allow us to identify clinical programs and services that may not currently be available to North Country residents, improve coordination of care between the partner hospitals and take advantage of Crouse’s affiliation with Northwell Health.” 

As part of the collaborative planning process, Walter Fink, DO, has been named chief medical officer (CMO) at Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center, “further reinforcing and supporting current and future efforts to achieve enhanced integration of clinical services in the region,” per the release. Dr. Fink also continues in his role as Carthage Area Hospital CMO.

In December 2017, the boards of directors of all the hospitals announced a clinical affiliation, seeking to enhance health-care quality and access in Central and Northern New York.

As communicated at the time, the North Country affiliation with Crouse Health does not represent a merger or acquisition, but instead is providing the foundation to allow each institution to strengthen patient services in their respective communities while sharing best practices and expertise.

Since the four organizations announced the partnership, significant planning, sharing, and collaboration has occurred, including the recent establishment of Crouse North. 

“Enhance access” to care

The hospitals involved say they’ve been working to develop a system of clinical-care delivery that will “enhance access to health services in a number of specialty areas.” 

Planning discussions have involved “numerous” North Country-based physicians and board and medical-staff leadership from each of the affiliate partners.

They’re currently evaluating clinical areas that include urology, cardiology, neurosurgery/spine care, and obstetric and gynecology services. 

“The model we are putting in place will have numerous North Country–based specialists sharing clinical services as needed at the partner hospitals,” Dr. Seth Kronenberg, COO and chief medical officer of Crouse Health, said in the release.

The three North Country affiliate partners and Crouse Health continue to work together to implement current initiatives and to identify future opportunities to provide accessible, coordinated clinical care for North Country residents, including telehealth in the areas of endocrinology, cardiology and neurology/stroke care.

“Working collaboratively, we have made solid progress in a relatively short period of time and through the establishment of Crouse North we look forward to building on and advancing the strategic goals that brought our organizations together,” said Kronenberg.