New York, NY -UNS: NYC Health + Hospitals today announced a comprehensive three-year plan to strengthen and expand its behavioral health services in a new report, Behavioral Health Blueprint: Turning Crisis into Opportunity. As the largest provider of behavioral health in New York City, NYC Health + Hospitals has identified six core strategies for the three-year period between 2024 and 2026 that will guide its efforts to restore and maximize inpatient capacity; expand access to outpatient services; increase services for special populations; enhance social work, care management, and peer services; prevent violence and increase safety; and build the behavioral health workforce. These efforts are funded in part with $41M through the Behavioral Health Centers of Excellence, a New York State investment to rebuild, develop, and enhance core acute and outpatient behavioral health services, targeting high risk individuals enrolled in New York State Medicaid Managed Care. Additional funding includes Opioid Settlement Funding as well as City, State, Federal, and philanthropic funds.
“Today, our public hospitals are announcing a comprehensive plan to expand capacity, improve services, and invest in our health care workforce so we can continue to serve the diverse mental health needs of all New Yorkers,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “NYC Health + Hospitals stands as a leader in providing behavioral health care, already serving more than 76,000 patients a year for mental health and substance use needs. With this plan, our administration will expand our reach and bring even more compassionate and competent care to New Yorkers who need it.”
“The blueprint announced today will build on the system’s work that includes some 5,000 behavioral health staff, add training programs for social workers, build out violence prevention programs, make investments to recruit and train additional staff to meet ongoing needs, among many other items,” said Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom. “Thank you to the dedicated teams doing this work serving more than 75,000 patients a year through behavioral health and substance use programs. This critical work serving so many New Yorkers builds on our administration’s larger strategy to connect every person in need of behavioral health or substance use services to the care they need to be safe and healthy.”
“We have an obligation to ensure all New Yorkers experiencing behavioral health issues have access to the level of care and support they need to live and thrive,” said New York State Office of Mental Health Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan. “Under Governor Hochul’s leadership, our state is making a bold, multi-year investment that will strengthen our mental health care system and build out critical services across the board. I would like to thank NYC Health + Hospitals for joining this effort by developing an ambitious plan to guide their behavioral health care services into the future.”
“This blueprint and bold investment show once again that excellence in behavioral health is core to NYC Health + Hospital’s mission,” said NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Mitchell Katz, MD. “In a critical time for behavioral health across our city, it delivers the strategic vision and commitment this moment demands. This vision represents the best of our system, and we are proud to bring it to life.”
“As demand for our services grows, our system is also confronting significant challenges, including an aging infrastructure and a nationwide health care workforce shortage,” said NYC Health + Hospitals Deputy Chief Medical Officer and System Chief of Behavioral Health Omar Fattal, MD, MPH. “Yet just like the city we serve, we don’t turn away in the face of challenges; we accelerate our work and deepen our resolve. We are doubling down on our commitment to deliver exceptional behavioral health services across the care continuum, and this Blueprint outlines the steps that we have already started taking towards that goal.”
Over 76,000 patients each year rely on NYC Health + Hospitals behavioral health services, giving the system a major role caring for New Yorkers’ mental health and substance use treatment needs. With nearly 5,000 dedicated behavioral health staff members across 11 hospitals and over 30 community health care centers, the system provides approximately 60% of behavioral health services in New York City. This includes a high-needs and complex patient population that can only be served through a public hospital system committed to serving all New Yorkers.
