Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.-based Northwell Healthcare’s Phelps Hospital is expanding its community paramedicine program to include in-home behavioral health services for patients facing barriers to mental healthcare access.
The program, launched in 2024 in partnership with Ossining Volunteer Ambulance Corp., provides in-home medical care through trained paramedics operating under physician oversight. The initiative prevented 454 unnecessary emergency department visits and reduced hospital readmissions by 34% for enrolled individuals in its first year, according to a May 20 system news release.
Under the behavioral health expansion, OVAC paramedics will provide in-home support for patients with mental health needs. The services, led by Yelena Zack, MD, director of psychiatry at Phelps Hospital, are designed to support continuity of treatment plans, assess medication, provide referrals to supportive services and reduce social isolation.
Phelps is also expanding the program to include street medicine outreach for unhoused individuals in Westchester County. The initiative will provide mobile health clinics offering medical evaluations, screenings, vaccinations, wound management, social work services and supplies such as food and clothing.
To support the expansion, Phelps has raised more than $400,000, including a $150,000 grant from the Phelps Community Foundation, the release said.
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