Behavioral Health
Latest Behavioral Health News
News12 Bronx Highlights Community Impact of VNS Health Promise Zone Program
October 15, 2024–
October 10 is World Mental Health Day
October 8, 2024–World Mental Health Day is an international day for mental health education, awareness and advocacy. Here in New York, our Behavioral Health team provides services to more than 3,500 clients each month in support of their overall health.
How the Brooklyn Adult Mobile Crisis Team Unlocked an Isolated Man’s Inner World
September 10, 2024–September 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day, dedicated to raising awareness that suicide can be prevented. The following story describes how one of our Mobile Crisis Teams was able to intervene with someone who was experiencing suicidal thoughts and connect him with professional care. If you or someone you know are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis, call or text the “988 Crisis & Suicide Lifeline” for free support and confidential crisis counseling. This past summer, VNS Health’s Brooklyn Adult Mobile Crisis Team (MCT) got a call about Alex*, a man in his forties who was behaving violently at the home he shares with his Russian-speaking parents. Alex is deaf and struggles with alcohol addiction, and he has been hospitalized several times over the years. Knowing about his deafness, MCT Program Manager Elis Rivas and psychiatric social worker Linda Techell arrived at the family’s home
Exciting Things Are Happening in the South Bronx
August 30, 2024–INSIDE PROVIDER SERVICES with David Rosales Welcome to the second installment of my Frontline “Inside Provider Services” column. As Chief of Provider Services, I oversee the Home Care, Hospice, Behavioral Health, Personal Care and CMO teams. It’s always exciting for me when one of those teams introduces a new service or figures out a new way to serve our patients and clients—particularly when it’s clear this innovation is going to help extend our mission and let us help more people in need. That’s happening at our Behavioral Health clinic in the South Bronx. For the first time, we’re going to be able to provide individuals in the Bronx with coordinated services that address all their behavioral health needs (including substance use treatment) under one roof while also connecting them to primary care and social services—all in support of their overall health and well-being. We’re able to offer this whole-person, patient-centered
Expanding the Reach and Impact of Behavioral Health Services in the Bronx
August 20, 2024–Since early this year, Frontline has been highlighting teams from across the organization who are working to make our Top Company Objectives a reality. Today’s “Objectives in Action” team in the spotlight: Behavioral Health. Top Company Objective: Expand the reach and impact of care management and behavioral health solutions serving high-need populations. Team: Behavioral Health The situation: In neighborhoods of the Bronx that have large percentages of residents living below the poverty line (including the South Bronx), health and wellness resources are limited and can be difficult to access, particularly behavioral health resources. As a result, residents tend to receive services in a fragmented way and aren’t getting the comprehensive, integrated care they need. To make the situation even worse: These communities also have high rates of mental health and substance use disorders that often go untreated. Top Company Objective in action: For years, VNS Health has provided mental health
Bronx Times Puts Spotlight on Gabby Perez, Program Assistant with Bx Children’s Mobile Crisis Team
July 30, 2024–
When Empathy, Swift Intervention, and Narcan Training Saved a Life
July 8, 2024–As a program assistant with the Bronx Children’s Mobile Crisis Team (MCT) and a Bronx native herself, Gabby Perez isn’t surprised by much—but on the way to VNS Health’s Behavioral Health clinic in the South Bronx this past spring, she spotted something that made her stop in her tracks. “I was walking to work that morning with a colleague, and we passed by an area where we’re very used to seeing people who abuse substances,” she recalls. “What I noticed this day was unusual, though—a woman was lying on the sidewalk with her hands at her sides and a purse, two phones and a wallet on the ground next to her. I said to myself, ‘My God, is she breathing?’ It just didn’t sit right with me. So I went closer to check.” Fortunately, Gabby had taken a course just a month earlier on how to administer the opioid antagonist
City Hall Rally Supports Funding for Community Health Programs
July 1, 2024–On June 11th, City Hall in Manhattan was the site of a rally organized by VNS Health’s community partners, InUnity Alliance, UJA Federation of NY, United Neighborhood Houses, and Citizen’s Committee for Children of NY. New York City Council Member Eric Bottcher and several local program leaders and clinicians discussed the crucial needs facing our communities and called on the City Council members to provide full funding to community health programs that benefit vulnerable New Yorkers. Our Behavioral Health team had a strong presence at the rally, with Deirdre DeLeo speaking on behalf of VNS Health, “These funds are vital for organizations like VNS Health to continue providing critical lifesaving services to all New Yorkers who need them,” Deirdre noted.
Arthur Fitting, Alex Karydi, Shannon Whittington Named as 2024 Crain’s “LGBTQIA+ Notables”
June 24, 2024–