Thanks to a grant from the New York State Office of Mental Health, patients at Mount Sinai’s Cohen Center for Pediatric Comprehensive Care (CCPCC) will soon have access to HealthySteps, a national evidence-based program centered on integrating a behavioral health specialist into the care team.
CCPCC is a medical home that serves more than 10,000 families, many of whom live in East Harlem and the Bronx. Although the dedicated team of pediatricians, social workers, nurses, and other clinic staff provide comprehensive care, this grant will expand the services and resources available for families. This is particularly important due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and well-being.
The first three years of a child’s life are a critical period for mental, physical, and socioemotional development with potential lifelong impact. An essential component of promoting good health includes routine monitoring and screening of developmental, socioemotional, and socioeconomic needs of the family to identify concerns, address unmet needs, and connect families with needed resources, evaluation, and treatment.
The behavioral health specialist will work with the multidisciplinary care team to support the whole family through universal screening for developmental and socioeconomic concerns. When a family in need is identified, the behavioral health specialist will provide parenting support, consultation, and comprehensive services. HealthySteps is associated with many immediate and longitudinal benefits for the child, the family, and the practice/provider, including timeliness of well-child visits and vaccinations, continuity of care, provision of age-appropriate nurturing by the family, and physician satisfaction.
The HealthySteps team will be led by Allison Gault, MD, Cynthia Katz, MD, Leora Mogilner, MD, Lisa Boguski-Filgueira, MD, and Practice Administrative Manager Ashley Jamison, who will oversee the implementation and assess outcomes in an evidence-based manner.
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Allison T. Gault, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Cynthia Katz, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Leora Mogilner, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Lisa Boguski-Filgueira, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics