Neighbor News
Suzanne Kontak Joins Association For Mental Health and Wellness
Will provide professional support to the Home and Community Based Services program and the agency's two Centers for Recovery and Wellness
The Association for Mental Health and Wellness (MHAW), a Ronkonkoma-based not-for-profit that provides programs, services, and advocacy for people facing mental health challenges, has hired Suzanne Kontak, NPP, of Setauket as a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner.
Ms. Kontak, who holds a Board Certification in psychiatry and adult health, will provide professional support to two growing MHAW programs: the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) program, and the agency’s two Centers for Recovery and Wellness in Ronkonkoma and Riverhead.
She was previously on staff at the Suffolk County Department of Mental Hygiene's behavioral health clinics, caring for people experiencing their initial challenge with psychiatric disabilities as well as people with substance use dependence. Ms. Kontak also brings extensive private-sector experience as a nurse practitioner in such fields as neurology, pain management, and rehabilitative medicine.
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“Suzanne Kontak is a dedicated, highly experienced professional who will be bringing her extensive clinical skills to our team within two of our flagship mental health programs,” said Michael Stoltz, LCSW, Chief Executive Officer of MHAW.
Ms. Kontak completed her undergraduate education at Hofstra University and Stony Brook University and earned graduate degrees in Nursing and Business at Stony Brook University. She is a waivered suboxone and medical marijuana provider.
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Over the course of her career, Suzanne Kontak also served as a nurse practitioner with South Shore Neurologic Associates in Patchogue, a large, multi-office neurological practice. She was also a nurse practitioner with Action Medical in Setauket, an outpatient pain management and physical therapy practice.
Suzanne Kontak’s experience also includes service as a program manager with Healogics in Hauppauge, a hospital-affiliated outpatient advanced wound care and hyperbaric medicine center, and as clinical manager of the New York Organ Donor Network in New York City.
About the Association for Mental Health and Wellness
The Association for Mental Health and Wellness (MHAW), a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation based in Ronkonkoma, NY, provides programs, services, and advocacy for people facing mental health challenges with an enhanced focus on serving military Veterans.
MHAW dates back to 1955 with the incorporation of the Mental Health Association in Suffolk County (MHA Suffolk). In 1990, Clubhouse of Suffolk was launched, providing a wide array of vocational rehabilitation services and recovery programs. With the growing need to provide services for Veterans with PTSD and other battle-related brain injuries, Clubhouse merged with MHA Suffolk and Suffolk County United Veterans in 2014 to form the Association for Mental Health and Wellness.
MHAW is committed to the core practice values of empowerment, hope, opportunity, and cultural competence. All of the agency’s direct service workers are trained in the importance of addressing health from trauma-informed and whole person perspectives with enriched understanding of the social and economic conditions that contribute to physical and mental health and substance abuse.
MHAW’s HelpLine can be reached at 631-471-7242. Their web address is www.MHAW.org.
