Healthcare Association of New York State Recognizes NYC Health + Hospitals / Elmhurst for Employee Mental Health Support Services During Pandemic
The 2021 Pinnacle Quality and Patient Safety Award recognizes initiatives that improve the quality of healthcare delivery in New York City
New York, New York State
NYC Health + Hospitals / Elmhurst announced today that it has received the 2021 Pinnacle Award for Quality and Patient Safety from the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) for its employee mental health support services provided during the pandemic . Applying the Helping Healers Heal (H3) program of the City’s public health system, the peer support program has expanded within the hospital to reach all hospital employees by engaging more advocacy champions. peer support and meeting staff where they are located. Peer Support Champions worked with mental health experts across the health system to facilitate wellness tours on floors, conduct debriefing sessions after adverse patient encounters, a line telephone support for employees in behavioral health issues and establish respite rooms for employees. The 2021 Pinnacle Quality and Patient Safety Award recognizes initiatives that improve the quality of healthcare delivery in New York City.
“We were fortunate to have the basics of our Helping Healers Heal program already before the pandemic, which allowed us to rapidly expand and expand services when our health heroes needed emotional and psychological support. fastest during the first weeks of the pandemic. ” noted NYC Health + Hospitals Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Officer Eric Wei, MD, MBA. “Our healthcare system is committed to continuing to provide these essential support services to all employees, incorporating lessons learned from the pandemic, while removing the stigma associated with mental health supports that create negative and potentially negative environments. dangerous for healthcare workers. “
“I would like to congratulate Dr Suzi Bentley, who coordinated much of our emotional support services during the pandemic, and the entire Helping Healers Heal team for achieving this well-deserved recognition from HANYS,” said NYC Health + Hospitals / Elmhurst CEO Helen Arteaga-Landaverde, MPH. “Their compassion, dedication and heroic efforts to support staff through the unimaginable mental and physical health toll caused by the COVID-19 outbreak have helped our employees meet their own needs so they can continue. to deal effectively with a community in deep crisis. I look forward to working with the H3 team to expand wellness programs in our hospital and ensure our health heroes have the tools they need to meet future challenges as we care for. our patients. “
“On behalf of our amazing Helping Healers Heal team, it has been an honor and privilege to co-lead this program at NYC Health + Hospitals / Elmhurst,” said NYC Health + Hospitals / Elmhurst Director of Wellness Suzanne Bentley, MD, MPH. “We are so grateful for HANYS ‘recognition and attention to the power of peer support. No healthcare worker should ever suffer alone and now, more than ever, it’s crucial that we support our healthcare heroes and have courageously vulnerable conversations about the need for emotional and psychological support to heal our healers.
These programs, led by the H3 teams of the system in partnership with the Office of Behavioral Health and made available to all employees, aim to help identify and monitor distress, as well as to assist staff in strengthening their resilience while helping the use of recovery. adaptation resources and services. NYC Health + Hospitals continues to urge all staff to seek mental health care to support their well-being during the pandemic and beyond.
Since the peak of COVID-19 in New York City, programs led by NYC Health + Hospitals for the mental well-being of staff have seen:
- Over 40,975 proactive wellness tours per unit, which include mental health experts and peer support teams actively engaging employees working in areas heavily impacted by COVID-19. Wellness rounds focus on identifying and supporting employees with symptoms of anxiety, depression, fatigue and burnout, and connecting them to services as needed, including a individual telephone debriefing, in person or anonymous counseling;
- Almost 6,570 additional H3 debriefings that include group debriefings, 1: 1 peer support sessions and wellness events. These encounters are formally structured as open forum guidelines which are facilitated using the skills of licensed Creative Arts Therapists, other mental health practitioners, as well as H3 leaders with the intention of enabling thoughts and thoughts. feelings of being expressed and shared verbally and non-verbally using the healing system. powers of creativity and art. This gives frontline staff the opportunity to share their experiences in a safe environment with other staff who were going through similar days and stress;
- Over 200 cumulative calls to the anonymous behavioral health hotline for employees of the public health system, which connects employees in need of help with psychiatrists / psychologists, and is made up of employee volunteers from NYC Health + Hospitals ;
- Approximately 84,942 visits to 31 respite / wellness rooms, allowing staff to take a break and engage in calming activities, such as meditation or crafts. Respite rooms are staffed with licensed mental health professionals, ready to provide support to any staff member who needs it.
The Helping Healers Heal Program was started at NYC Health + Hospitals in 2018 by President and CEO Dr Mitchell Katz and Director of Quality Dr Eric Wei. The program is anchored in national research that identifies health care providers as “second victims” of traumatic events commonly experienced in all health care settings. Since its inception, the program has grown to further include compassion fatigue, burnout, complex and collective trauma, and more. All H3 teams include licensed mental health practitioners and other behavioral health experts.
All NYC Health + Hospitals staff who may be experiencing mental health issues are encouraged to seek help through any modality available to all employees in the system.
New Yorkers interested in seeking mental health support can contact 844-NYC-4NYC for an appointment at NYC Health + Hospitals, or by contacting NYC Well.
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