Exciting Behavioral Health Reorganization Announcement
Dear Colleagues,
The Behavioral Health (BH) team has been hard at work transforming our structure to allow for more agile and dynamic growth as we expand our programs in 2022 and beyond and become integral to one VNS Health. The first step was to ensure that we can be easily identified within VNS Health and the broader community. To more accurately represent all of the work we do – both Mental Health and Substance Use services – and to better align with industry standard terminology, Community Mental Health Services (CMHS) has officially been renamed Behavioral Health!
Last year, BH and VNS Health leadership developed a strategic plan that includes expanding programs in the following areas: Substance Use Disorders; Children and Adolescents; Older Adults; and Integrated Care. All new service offerings will build on our history of providing excellent care within our grant programs and will ensure a focus on meeting Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) needs. To support the advancement of this strategic plan, BH is transforming its organizational structure. The reorganization lays the foundation for this exciting growth and allows for adequate capacity to develop new services, and ultimately serve more vulnerable New Yorkers in need of behavioral health care.
To ensure our programs are operating consistently and seamlessly across regions, and in support of our strategic plan, we have built a leadership team that can deliver on our ambitious vision. To this end, BH is excited to announce the newest members of our leadership team to take on this task! (To read more about each of these leaders, click on the links below)
- Susan Rabinowitz has been promoted to Associate Vice President Quality Improvement & Data Management Behavioral Health
- Thomas Laverack has been promoted to Associate Vice President, Behavioral Health Operations
- Risikat Amolegbe has been promoted to Director, Care Management, City and State Programs
- Deirdré DeLeo has been promoted to Director, Crisis and Assessment Programs
- Patricia Kissi has been promoted to Director, Treatment Programs
- Alex Karydi has been hired as our new BH Product Development Director
To see the updated BH organizational chart, click here.
We are excited to have their dynamic leadership and expertise at the forefront of our efforts! Reach out to any of us on the team to talk about these exciting changes!
Jessica Fear, LMFT
Senior Vice President, Behavioral Health