Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories

NYS: 'Major investments' to improve psychiatric support for those in crisis

Submitted

Fri, Feb 18th 2022 02:55 pm

Includes $27.5 million to increase funding for inpatient psychiatric hospital beds, $9 million for recruiting psychiatrists & psychiatric nurse practitioners, $12.5 million annually for 500 additional supportive housing beds to house people experiencing homelessness

√ Investments build on Hochul's $10 billion plan to improve health care system, including a $577 million increase for community mental health programs & services

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday announced major investments to help improve access to acute mental health care and hospital psychiatric beds across New York. The initiatives are part of a plan to provide the necessary support and services for people with serious mental illness experiencing homelessness, as well as others in crisis. The investments include $27.5 million annually to increase funding for inpatient psychiatric beds; $9 million annually to recruit psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners; and $12.5 million annually for 500 additional supportive housing beds to house people experiencing homelessness in their communities.

"For too long, our mental health care system suffered from disinvestment, and the pandemic has only made things harder for New Yorkers with serious mental illness who are experiencing homelessness," Hochul said.

Office of Mental Health Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan said, "Gov. Hochul's proposed budget and the initiatives she is implementing are truly historic and will greatly strengthen the mental health care safety net in New York.”

Hochul’s team said, “One cause of the shortage of psychiatric beds in New York City and across the state is lower Medicaid reimbursement for inpatient psychiatric care compared to medical/surgical beds. The $27.5 million investment would increase the current Medicaid for psychiatric beds by 20% and would help bring beds back online for psychiatric use, including more than 600 in New York City.

“A second challenge with reestablishing psychiatric beds is the nation-wide shortage of psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners. Gov. Hochul is committing $9 million annually to establish a loan forgiveness program to recruit these mental health practitioners into the community-based mental health workforce.

“The investment of $12.5 million annually for 500 additional supportive housing beds will help to more quickly transition those in crisis from the streets, subways and shelters to stable housing. These units will give the state the additional resources it will need as the governor's Safe Options Support teams come online in the spring. These additional units will complement the 10,000 units of supportive housing announced in the governor's $25 billion housing plan.”

These investments will build on the governor's $10 billion plan to improve the health care system and proposed budget, which includes a historic $577 million (17.2%) increase for critically important community mental health programs and services. These budget initiatives include:

√ $21 million investment to develop 20 new SOS teams comprised of mental health specialists to conduct direct one-on-one outreach with New Yorkers experiencing homelessness;

√ $25 billion housing plan with a commitment to create and preserve 10,000 units of supportive housing over the next five years to prevent homelessness;

√ Workforce investments through a historic 5.4% cost of living adjustment (COLA) for community mental health providers, and retention bonuses up to $3,000; and

√ $35 million investment for fiscal year 2023 that grows to $60 million in FY 2024 to prepare New York for the nationwide launch of 9-8-8, the suicide prevention and behavioral health crisis hotline system, by providing for the expansion of call center capacity.

Hometown News

View All News