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Because They've Been There
Leo McKinnis
Leo McKinnis, Peer Counselor at Kings County Hospital's Behavioral Health Center

For Leo McKinnis, a former mental health patient and drug addict, the turning point came when he saw what his mental illness and addiction were doing to his little nephew.

"He saw me high one day and it hurt him. He started to cry. I said, 'I can't do that to him,' " McKinnis recalled recently. After that, he went into treatment.

For Sylvette Vargas, the realization was more subtle and came when she was in her mid-20s. "I didn't know what was the cause, I just knew I was down all the time, and I had no reason to be down."

Now McKinnis, 63, and Vargas, 32, use their own personal stories of struggle and triumph over mental illness to help and inspire patients in their jobs as peer counselors in the Behavioral Health Center at Kings County Hospital. The Peer Counselor Program uses full-time staff members who have been mental health patients themselves to serve as patient navigators, mentors and advocates for people seeking treatment at the Behavioral Health Center.

McKinnis and Vargas said they have a special ability to understand and empathize with the patients because, "I've been there."

The program is part of a comprehensive plan to transform mental health services, improve quality of care and radically change the patient experience for the 12,000 New Yorkers served by the hospital's behavioral health program every year. The changes represent the most dramatic overhaul of mental health services the program has received in its nearly 70-year history.
Sylvette Vargas
Sylvette Vargas, Peer Counselor at Kings County Hospital's Behavioral Health Center

McKinnis said he was already an adult with a degree in Psychology from Marist College when he got involved in selling and using drugs in Brooklyn, where he was living. He sought treatment at Bellevue Hospital and Bronx Lebanon Hospital. Doctors diagnosed him as a chronic paranoid schizophrenic.

"I was flabbergasted," he said. Recovery wasn't easy, and he was in and out of treatment several times before making it.

Now McKinnis is known as someone adept at navigating the system to line up the various support services that many patients need.

"He's passionate about working with the patients. His big thing is he goes out and gets the information that the patients need," said Dr. Miriam Azaunce, Associate Director of Wellness and Recovery.

A peer counselor must have nine months of training in patient advocacy, including three months of on-the-job training as an intern; experience in the field; or both. In addition all peer counselors must undergo a 48-hour training program at Kings County.

The hospital has hired 12 peer counselors since August and plans to hire nine more. Dr. Azaunce said they serve as a liaison between the patients and the staff and help to break down stereotypes about mental health patients since they are former patients who are now working and thriving.

"I love to do what I do," said Vargas, who works in the in-patient unit. "I can really empathize with people who have been patients. I love to see people grow and become better, and become the people I know they can be."

She said she is working with a patient whose family is ashamed of her mental illness and is not supporting her as she struggles to get better. "I could tell she was happy to have somebody helping her. This person has touched me because every day, she's pushing forward," Vargas said.

July 2009


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