Northwell to close Valley Stream psychiatric services unit

Northwell Health announced Friday that it plans to close its inpatient psychiatric services unit in Valley Stream next month.

The closure of the 21-bed unit is pending state approval.

The facility is housed within Northwell’s Long Island Jewish medical center in Valley Stream.

Northwell said patients experiencing a psychiatric crisis can still go to the Valley Stream location’s emergency department to be observed and stabilized. If an inpatient unit admission is needed, patients will be transferred to a nearby Northwell facility, including Zucker Hillside Hospital in Queens, South Oaks Hospital in Amityville, Huntington Hospital or Syosset Hospital.

Those four Northwell facilities have a combined 420 inpatient psychiatric beds. Northwell has 520 inpatient psychiatric beds throughout its system.

Other patients could be transferred to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, which has an affiliation agreement with Northwell.

There are 1,064 psychiatric beds in Nassau and Suffolk counties, according to the New York State Office of Mental Health.

Northwell is evaluating future plans for the soon-to-be-vacated space in Valley Stream.

New Hyde Park-based Northwell is the state’s largest health system. It has 62,000 employees and operates 22 hospitals and more than 550 outpatient facilities in the state.