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North Shore-LIJ Celebrates Inauguration of Florence & Robert A. Rosen Family Wellness Center - a Free Behavioral Health Treatment Program for Law Enforcement and Military Personnel and Their Families

Posted on: Friday, 27 April 2007, 12:00 CDT

GREAT NECK, N.Y., April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Enlisted personnel from all branches of the military today joined commanding officers and veterans, including those of the Iraqi and Afghanistan conflicts, to celebrate the launch of the North Shore-LIJ health system's Florence and Robert A. Rosen family wellness center for law enforcement and military personnel and their families.

Through this first-of-its-kind program, North Shore-LIJ psychiatrists and other physicians, psychologists and social workers will provide behavioral health treatment at no cost to local, state and federal law enforcement officers and their families; veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan and other veteran military personnel and their families; and members of the Reserves, Naval Militia, National Guard and Service Academies and their families. Behavioral health services will be augmented by the vast array of comprehensive medical resources available through the 15-hospital North Shore-LIJ health system. The availability of counseling and support services for family members is one of the features that distinguish the Rosen Center.

"It is impossible to describe the tremendous emotional and physical burdens faced by our law enforcement and military personnel and their families, on a daily basis. These are the very people who risk their lives to ensure our safety," Rear Admiral Robert A. Rosen, a North Shore-LIJ health system trustee, said at a news conference today that also included U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and executives and physicians from the North Shore-LIJ Health System. "My family is privileged to have had the opportunity to work with the gifted physicians who staff this program. Their compassion and devotion to their work can only be matched by the bravery and spirit of our soldiers and law enforcement personnel. We thank them all, and consider it our privilege to help these great public servants in their time of need."

The Rosen Center, funded through the support of the Rosen Family Foundation and the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation chaired by Anthony Bergamo, is a "center without walls" that will provide counseling for military and law enforcement personnel and their families at a health system facility or wherever they feel comfortable receiving it.

"Because of their high-stress occupations and their frequent exposure to traumatic events, military and law enforcement personnel have unique behavioral health needs that will be addressed by specially trained staff at the Rosen Center," said psychiatrist Sandra Kaplan, MD, the program's medical director. Long-term exposure to stress, fear for a loved one's safety, prolonged separation, and a range of family and career issues are just a few of the issues that the program will address, said Lawrence Scherr, MD, academic dean emeritus and former chairman of medicine at North Shore University Hospital. Specific services include: individual and family counseling, parenting and child resilience workshops, a family resource center, medication management, and various adult lifestyle, wellness and health workshops that address such issues as alcohol, tobacco and substance abuse, weight gain or loss, and sleep disorders.

For more information, contact the Florence and Robert A. Rosen family wellness center at 516-562-3260 or rosencenter@nshs.edu.

North Shore-LIJ Health System

CONTACT: Michelle Pinto, +1-516-465-2649, cell, +1-917-327-3898, or TerryLynam, +1-516-465-2600, both for North Shore-LIJ

Web site: http://www.northshorelij.com/http:///rosencenter@nshs.edu

Source: PRNewswire

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