Deaf Wellness Center

Rochester

The Deaf Wellness Center (DWC) is a program of the University of Rochester Medical Center, based in its Department of Psychiatry. The DWC staff engage in clinical services, teaching, and research activities that pertain to mental health, healthcare, sign language interpreting, and other topics that affect the lives of people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. See our Deaf Wellness Center brochure for additional information.

The DWC is located in the Department of Psychiatry (also known as Strong Behavioral Health) at Strong Memorial Hospital (University of Rochester Medical Center) in Rochester, NY. Our address is 300 Crittenden Boulevard. (Do not go to Crittenden Road with a GPS device.) We are near the west end of the large Strong Memorial Hospital complex of buildings that lie between Elmwood Avenue and Crittenden Boulevard. The complex begins at the intersection of Elmwood Avenue and Mt. Hope Boulevard in the city of Rochester.

Parking

Please see the Strong Memorial Hospital Parking & Directions page for parking information.

• Do not park in the hospital ramp garage—it's too far away from the DWC.
• Only DWC (and Strong Behavioral Health) patients are allowed to park in the small lot (see tiny green box at bottom, left of map) that is just outside our entrance.
• Other DWC visitors should park in the Saunders Research Building visitors' lot, directly across the street from the "Strong Behavioral Health" sign on Crittenden Blvd. (See the large blue area at bottom, left of the map labeled "Additional Vistor Parking").

Entrance

• To get to the DWC, walk into the Strong Behavioral Health doorway, turn left in the atrium, and you'll see a large waiting area.
• The Deaf Wellness Center is located on the second floor but we typically will meet first-time patients and visitors in the large waiting area on the ground floor. Otherwise, take the Blue elevators (left turn outside the waiting area) to the second floor (push the "2" button).
• When the elevator doors open, first turn right and then turn left in the hallway. Walk down the hallway until you see a small waiting area; that's the DWC area.

The DWC provides evaluation and psychotherapy services to individuals age 17 and older, couples, and families. We also conduct psychiatric evaluations and provide consultation and forensic evaluation services to courts, governments, etc., on topics related to deafness, mental health, and healthcare. Several psychotherapy groups are also conducted at the DWC. Our psychotherapy groups are all-deaf and are conducted in sign language by our sign-fluent therapists. While most of our clients are deaf and use sign language, some are hard-of-hearing, oral deaf, or hearing people with deaf family members.

The DWC accepts all forms of health insurance and there is a sliding fee scale for persons with limited income.