Behavioral Health
Latest Behavioral Health News
How Team Members Are Harnessing AI in Their Daily Jobs
July 14, 2025–In his July CEO Zoom, CEO Dan Savitt introduced VNS Health’s new Top Company Objective: Harness AI to transform how we engage, support, and care for those we serve, empowering our teams to achieve superior health outcomes. This transformation has already begun, with team members from across the organization using AI to empower how they do their daily work. If you would like to share how you are using AI, please click here to answer a very short survey. We’d love to hear from you! To give you just a small example, here is how 16 team members said they’re using AI to help them in their jobs:
First Cohort Completes Leadership Development Program
June 24, 2025–On June 18, 14 Vice Presidents and Directors from across the organization completed our first “Leadership Unlocked” program, a dynamic 15-week Leadership Development Program designed to deepen each participant’s leadership capabilities through interactive learning experiences, coaching, assessments, VNS Health site visits and internal networking opportunities. Our first cohort concluded with two final projects, focused on Patient Satisfaction and Member Experience. A second cohort will be launched in the Fall, and additional cohorts will be offered in 2026. See the photos here of their final presentations and graduation!
Behavioral Health Team Hosts 14th Annual Children’s Mental Health Fair!
June 24, 2025–To coincide with Mental Health Awareness Month, the Behavioral Health team held their Annual Children’s Mental Health Fair in front of our FRIENDS East 153rd Street location on May 29th. The theme for this year’s event was based on the animated children’s movie “Inside Out,” which cleverly illustrates different emotions. Invitees included clients from various Behavioral Health programs, including the FRIENDS Clinic, Children’s Mobile Crisis, HBCI, Health Home, Children and Family Support Team, and Safe Pathways, as well as families in the Bronx community. It is estimated that over 200 local residents attended in all. Check out photos of the festivities below!
Melinda Wong and Safe Pathways Team Speak to the Importance of Supporting LGBTQIA+ Youth in The Bronx Voice
June 11, 2025–
Hospice News Spotlights VNS Health for Our Work Integrating Behavioral Health and Hospice Care
June 4, 2025–
VNS Health Celebrates Nurses Month! Photos! Videos!
May 29, 2025–To celebrate our truly amazing nurses, VNS Health held Nurses Month events in all five NYC boroughs as well as in Westchester and Long Island. To view photos from each of these celebrations – plus videos of government officials giving special tributes to VNS Health – click here below! Manhattan — May 1, 2025 Queens — May 7, 2025 Westchester — May 13, 2025 Bronx — May 14, 2025 At our Bronx event, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson celebrated VNS Health Nurses with an inspiring talk and a proclamation. She also dedicated five full nursing school scholarships at Touro University for residents of the Bronx. To view the video click here below. NY News 1 and Bronx News 12 also covered the event, which included honoring Jean Verlus, our 2025 Nurse of the Year, and the announcement of the scholarships dedicated to residents of the Bronx. Click here for NY
Safe Pathways Team Members Melinda Wong and Darien Williams Join BronxNet TV for Mental Health Awareness Month
May 29, 2025–
125 VNS Health Kids Enjoy “Bring Your Child to Work Day”—See the Photos!
May 5, 2025–If you were in our offices at 220 East 42nd Street or 5 Penn Plaza on April 24th, you might have noticed some unusually young team members on the premises. You weren’t imagining things—but then again, those weren’t actually VNS Health employees. This was “Bring Your Child to Work Day,” and many of our team members did exactly that, inviting 125 of their kids to spend the day at their workplace. For the children in attendance, it was a day of learning about health care and the organization in fun and creative ways. Following breakfast, attendees could choose from a menu of activities that included a scavenger hunt, various healthcare demos—where kids could watch a nurse removing staples from a simulated “leg,” as well as demonstrations of occupational therapy in action and how breathing and swallowing issues are managed—plus a presentation on healthcare careers. Lunch featured pizza, ice cream and
Ribbon-Cutting for Our New Integrated Behavioral Health Clinic in Photos and Video!
April 29, 2025–On Thursday, April 17th, over a hundred VNS Health team members, elected officials, and community partners gathered in front of our Mott Haven location in the South Bronx to cut the ribbon on our new Integrated Mental Health and Substance Use Clinic. Distinguished guests included Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, Dr. Ann Sullivan, Commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Health, and Dr. Chinazo Cunningham, Commissioner of New York State’s Office of Addiction Services and Supports. The clinic’s integrated services—which are available to anyone, regardless of ability to pay—include coordinated mental health and substance use treatment, crisis intervention, and linkage to broader health care and safety net services across New York City. The clinic will operate out of our existing Mott Haven location in the Bronx, where our ongoing FRIENDS programs for children and adolescent are also based. “We see this as a real game-changer for the Bronx