By HEATHER HADDO
HERALD NEWS

Paterson -- Without his psychiatric medication, Rae Delmo's brother once wandered away from his house in Paterson, collected a cache of knives in his bedroom and struck family members.

After Barnert Hospital's mental health program closed, the 64-year-old man didn't get his medication on Tuesday.

"We're in a crisis mode right now," said Delmo, 61, a teacher's aide at School 2 in Paterson, whose brother suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.

Two weeks ago, Barnert Hospital stopped psychiatric counseling and HIV treatment for 825 patients. Hospital workers referred clients to doctors and hospitals in Bergen and Passaic counties.

Still, the transition has been difficult.

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