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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has commended the Integrated Mental Health Primary Care Program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital as "one of the most promising approaches for strengthening primary-specialty interface for children and adolescents." The Program, a collaboration between the Hospital's Ambulatory Care Network (ACN) and Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian, provides culturally sensitive mental health treatment in a primary care setting at five ACN sites in Manhattan.

In a report entitled "Promising Approaches for Strengthening the Interface Between Primary and Specialty Pediatric Care," the initiative was cited as an exemplary model of a "co-located" program – one that is designed to remove access barriers by combining both physical and mental health services in one location, eliminating the need for referral to an outside specialist. The Program's benefits are demonstrated in the results of a 2004 survey: 86 percent of primary care providers reported improved access to psychiatric services, 95 percent of primary care physicians reported satisfaction and 90 percent reported their patients' satisfaction with the services.

"This award recognizes the vision of hospital leadership and the hard work of the entire staff at the Integrated Mental Health Primary Care Program and their dedication to our young patients," says Dr. Trish Gallagher, a psychologist and director of the pediatric component of the Integrated Mental Health Primary Care Program in the Ambulatory Care Network of NewYork Presbyterian and assistant professor of medical psychology in psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Dr. Daniel Hyman, chief medical officer for Ambulatory Care at NewYork-Presbyterian says, "The opportunity to both provide improved access to services, as well as to facilitate consultation between primary care physicians and mental health experts allows us to improve care and access for far more patients than we could or would reach under the usual separate clinical structures that exist. The Program is an excellent model for how to enhance mental health services that are too often lacking, especially in poor and minority communities."

The report was prepared by the Federal Expert Work Group on Pediatric Subspecialty Capacity at the Maternal and Child Health Policy Research Center for the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The World Health Organization estimates the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children visiting primary care facilities at 12 to 29 percent, only 10 to 22 percent of which were recognized by health-care workers.

For more information on the Integrated Mental Health Primary Care Program, patients can call 866-NYP-NEWS.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital – based in New York City – is the nation's largest not-for-profit, non-sectarian hospital, with 2,224 beds. It provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory and preventive care in all areas of medicine at five major centers: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Allen Pavilion and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division. One of the largest and most comprehensive health-care institutions in the world, the Hospital is committed to excellence in patient care, research, education and community service. It ranks sixth on U.S.News & World Report's guide to "America's Best Hospitals," has the greatest number of physicians listed in New York magazine's "Best Doctors" issue, and is included among Solucient's top 15 major teaching hospitals. The Hospital has academic affiliations with two of the nation's leading medical colleges: Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.