UPDATED: Dec. 11, 2015 at 11:03 a.m.

Syracuse University has partnered with Carebridge to provide comprehensive health and wellness services — including mental health services — to all eligible employees of the university.

As part of the university’s ongoing Wellness Initiative to expand the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program, Carebridge will help SU provide 24/7 year-round health and wellness services, said Andrew Gordon, chief human resources officer at SU. The company is currently contracted for two years with potential to expand in the future.

SU announced on Nov. 19 that the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program, which provides counseling services confidentially like the Counseling Center, would soon be led by a third-party organization like Carebridge.

The announcement sparked concern from members of the University Senate at its Dec. 2 meeting.

“It just seems quite surprising that it’s closing without any public information besides a 1-800 number telling us how the services would work,” one senator said.

Carebridge will provide services during “green-days,” or days when classes are not in session. Previously, when school was not in session, neither were the services.

In addition, faculty and staff will have access to local counseling, crisis support and resources, mental health professionals with specialized training and on-demand work-life learning opportunities, according to an SU News Release.

Carebridge works to bring “individuals and families a comprehensive treasury of information and tools to make contemporary life manageable and successful,” according to its website.

Calls will be answered by a “qualified and licensed clinician” who is trained to assess the situation and direct the caller to be the best answers, he added.

Gordon said faculty and staff will also have access to work-life resources. This includes child and elder care and legal services, through which they will receive 30 minutes of free consultation and a referral to a local lawyer. University managers and supervisors will also have access to unlimited consultations on how to become better managers, or advice on dealing with employees or difficult situations, he said.

In addition, Gordon said there will be a new “webinar” with on-demand training to help people deal with problems available on the self-service health portal.

Gordon said all university employees, even those not working on campus, will have access to the health and wellness services. Access for those who are not local will be available early in the next year as some coordination with Carebridge is still in the works, he added.

Some faculty and staff, Gordon said, are concerned about the amount of confidentiality the services actually provide. Gordon said the resource provider is completely separate from the university, making the information “completely independent and confidential.”

“HR doesn’t get any details of Carebridge and employee interaction,” he added.

Gordon said the university is hoping that because the service is not affiliated with the university that utilization rates of these types of services will go up while anxiety goes down.

Ultimately, Gordon said the university decided to bring in an outside source to provide services to its employees because “people matter.”

Said Gordon: “We don’t want them to be concerned about the other elements of their life while they are working, or for people to worry about something they don’t have to be worried about.”

Correction: In a previous version of this article, the name of the company SU has partnered with was misstated. The name of the company is “Carebridge” rather than “Carebridge Life Resources.” The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on December 9, 2015 at 11:49 pm

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