Citizen Advocates has recently added two Advanced Practice Providers to join its highly skilled and caring team of mental health and addiction treatment professionals.
Both Katrina Galasik and John Gomez are board certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners, each with several years of experience in their respective field.
“One of our top goals is to be known as a provider of exceptional, high-quality clinical services,” said Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joshua Frank. “We are fortunate to have attracted a team of talented professionals who can provide an additional layer of care when it comes to the delivery of prevention, treatment and recovery services for individuals living with a mental health or addiction diagnosis.”
In addition to evaluating and providing diagnosis as part of a treatment plan, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners also provide ongoing medication management for patients recovering from substance use disorders. Besides coordinating and collaborating with other members of the care team – including therapists, registered nurses, targeted case managers, and others – the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner works closely with and under the guidance of the Chief Medical Officer.
Ms. Galasik is the newest member of the care team, who has relocated from Rochester and will be providing treatment and services at Citizen Advocates’ Behavioral Health Urgent Care Center in Ogdensburg. Before becoming a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, she worked for several years as a Registered Nurse focusing on the professional treatment and care of individuals working at the Buffalo Psychiatric Center.
Ms. Galasik has also earned valuable experience as Faculty for the medical assistant program at the Everest Institute, and as Instructor of Nursing for the registered nursing program at Genesee Community College.
Mr. Gomez joined the Medical Staff in late 2020, and he is part of the care team at Citizen Advocate’s integrated outpatient Behavioral Health Clinics in Malone and Saranac Lake. Much like his current role, his previous experience was conducting psychiatric evaluations and developing treatment plans for patients at the Recovery Resource Center of Orange County, New York, and Cornerstone Family Healthcare in Middletown, N.Y.
Prior to that, he worked as a Registered Nurse for Rochester Regional Health in an Acute Adult Inpatient Psychiatric Unit/Emergency Department and at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester on the Medical/Surgical Unit.
In addition to Ms. Galasik and Mr. Gomez, the following certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners are part of the Medical Staff at Citizen Advocates: Patricia Cook, Malone clinic; Ruth Ann Williamson, Massena clinic; and Ashley LaValley, Malone clinic. There are also two Family Nurse Practitioners on the Medical Staff, Rita Curran at the Malone clinic, and Colleen Paquette at the Massena clinic. Dr. Jane Maxwell rounds out the care team as the Staff Psychiatrist for the outpatient clinic in Saranac Lake.
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