WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Sitting along South Franklin Street in Wilkes-Barre is the Children's Service Center and the Robinson Counseling Center, both filling the need for mental health services in the Wyoming Valley.
"A lot of people we serve have transportation issues, they have child care issues, social detriments of health that is a big factor in their life, so to be able to have one place they can go to and get what they need taken care of, it's really important for the community to have something like this," Mike Hopkins, president and CEO of the Children's Service Center.
With a cut of the ribbon, Children's Service Center opened its new 12,500-square-foot addition to its outpatient building to add primary care to the mix of mental and behavioral health needs.
Over the last five years, the center has seen its client base double across all of its services.
"It's unfortunate that the need is there, but it is fortunate that we are here to meet that need," said Hopkins. "We were serving about 6,000 clients in 2017, and we will finish this year ... five years later at over 13,000 clients, so you can see the growth is there."
The new primary care center is named after the Conyngham family. Several members were there to be part of the dedication.
"It makes my family feel very proud. We're about three or four generations of almost non-stop service. It's such a wonderful institution. It makes us very proud to be involved with it," George Conyngham.
The Conyngham Primary Health Care Center accepts patients of all ages.
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