Quannacut Outpatient Services held a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday, Nov. 6 — three months after opening its doors on East Main Street. It was attended by around 30 people, including Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital leadership, clinic workers and local elected officials.

So far, 25 people have registered for the clinic, SBELIH chief administrative officer Paul Connor told The Suffolk Times at the ceremony.

The clinic offers telehealth, co-occurring and primary care medical services. It also provides medication for addiction treatment, psychiatric evaluations and acts as a New York State Department of Motor Vehicle treatment site for driver’s license reinstatements.

Quannacut Outpatient provides highly specialized programs that address both immediate and long-term substance use and mental health needs, as well as the impact on families, significant others and support systems. It offers individual and group therapy for mental health and substance use.

The clinic is an arm of SBELIH, and recently received licensure from the New York State Office of Mental Health. The license has expanded the hospital’s ability to provide comprehensive behavioral health care to the region.

Assistant vice president of neurosciences and psychiatry Dr. Kristie Golden Campo, who started working as a case manager at 21, praised the clinic’s efforts. When she started, she said she had a case load of clients from Huntington to Port Jefferson. She drove one of her clients out to Greenport to get services at the time from SBELIH, formerly known as Eastern Long Island Hospital, for treatment of her co-occurring disorder.

“There is no better place for this integrated license to exist,” Ms. Golden Campo said. “This has been something that Eastern Long Island Hospital has done for a long time, and they’ve done it better than any other facility that I can remember.” 

Mr. Connor added: “Here on Long Island, where our communities stretch across rural and suburban landscapes, the lack of access has real consequences.”

The OMH license will allow the clinic to “close the gap” of services and connect people to the help they need closer to home, he said. It can be reached at 631-369-8966.

“I think a lot of us know people who could use these services, and I think that gives us great comfort knowing that they can be offered,” Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski said of the clinic. “And, it gives us even more comfort knowing the people who are here are the ones who offer those services.”

Greenport Village Mayor Kevin Stuessi lauded the hospital’s achievements, calling health care one of Southold’s greatest exports. 

“This is something that affects many of our friends and family,” he said. “I’ve certainly seen it in my family as well.”

The clinic opening comes at a time of need: One in five U.S. adults live with mental illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health as recently as 2022. 

Nearly 49 million people in the U.S. over the age of 12 struggled with substance abuse in 2023, only 6% of whom received treatment, according to a 2023 survey by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. That same survey found that nearly 21 million American adults suffered from both a mental health disorder and a substance use disorder, or co-occurring disorders. 

For more information on treatments available at Quannacut Outpatient Services, visit elih.stonybrookmedicine.edu.

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Dr. Ghayalod grew up in East Quogue and completed her residency at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, where she served as chief resident.

“She is a dedicated family practitioner who has also completed fellowship training in addiction medicine,” Dr. Jarid Pachter said. “I believe she will be the perfect fit for our practice in Southold and in helping the many patients suffering from substance use disorders in Suffolk County. I could not be more thrilled to welcome her to Southold Family Medicine and Quannacut Outpatient in Riverhead.”

Dr. Ghayalod earned her medical degree from St. George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada, and completed a fellowship in addiction medicine with Tufts University at Cambridge Health Alliance, where she taught medical students and residents. She began practicing at Southold Family Medicine in September.

“I’m incredibly proud to join Stony Brook Community Medicine, the place that has cared for me and my family since I was a child,” Dr. Ghayalod said in the press release. “As someone who grew up on Eastern Long Island, the North Fork has always held a special place in my heart, and I’m excited to provide care to this community.”

She is now accepting new patients, with office hours Monday through Friday. Patients who wish to make an appointment with Southold Family Medicine should call 631-734-8742.

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“It’s really an opportunity to start somewhere safe and new. We talk about people, places and things when it comes to a person’s recovery,” said Elizabeth Donner Day, director of SBELIH’s Quannacut Outpatient Services. “[It may be] leaving a home environment or an unsafe, domestic violence relationship to a place where a person can just take care of themselves … The opportunity to just focus on yourself in early recovery is really important so that you can build that foundation and go forward, whether it’s getting a a full time or part time job, saving up to move into a new place, or gaining custody or or visitation back with children.”

The homes join the already established recovery residence for men in Mattituck to provide supportive housing for up to 34 residents at a time. Residents receive services through Stony Brook Medicine’s network, including medical and mental health care, substance use counseling and vocational guidance. Each location is tailored to meet the needs of different populations and address housing and health disparities for the East End.

This home is part of the hospital’s addiction continuum, one step in a multi-part process to help people suffering from an addiction disorder to get back on their feet. “We’re very proud to open these two new recovery homes. These are exclusively female homes, which are in desperate need in Suffolk County. They’re open to anyone who qualifies,” said Paul Connor, chief administrative officer for Stony Brook ELIH. “We have another 12-bed home in Mattituck. [There are] 10 acute detox beds at the hospital and 27 rehab beds in Riverhead. We have a large outpatient addiction program.” Non-binary and transgender patients are also accommodated in the new homes.

Estimates from the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicate that 2.8 million New Yorkers aged 12 years and older had a substance use disorder in the past year. Substance use disorders are associated with numerous potential adverse impacts to the health and well-being of an individual as well as their family and community. Of New Yorkers admitted to treatment in 2022, 27.9% were female. In 2023, the American Addiction Centers reported that 20.7 million females 12 and older had a substance use disorder. Additionally, National Institute on Drug Abuse research suggests that women are more susceptible to cravings and relapse. 

One of the most compelling success stories from the overall program involved a young man from Stony Brook who went through the continuum. “He went through our program, he got his act together, went out west and is a ranch hand on an active horse ranch,” said Mr. Connor. “He was a young kid who got into trouble, and we provided some stability and training for him to be able to contend with that.” While the patient experienced a relapse, which is often part of addiction recovery, “the second time around, it worked, and he continues to be sober.”

Ms. Day sees the establishment of these recovery homes as a bridge towards a better future for individuals affected by substance use disorder. “It really is very humbling to work with a person who’s on their path to recovery, and it’s not always easy, but I think that mental health, addiction, physical health, they all have their own stigma, and they touch everyone in some way,” said Ms. Day. “So being able to have a home where women can find support and resources to rebuild their lives, working on their healing, working on their recovery, and working within our community, I think that’s what I’m most excited about, is just that it’s it’s an opportunity for hope and healing.”

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