Health Programs
Improving Access To Care
Mount Sinai School of Medicine has exhibited particular strength in identifying, and addressing, the evolving health needs of different stages of life. From a community service standpoint, this medical expertise translates into innovative programs that have successfully surmounted barriers to treatment—whether physical, psychological, social, linguistic or cultural — and made it possible to reach those who might otherwise never enjoy a doctor's care.
Profiled here are two clusters of programs:
Nationwide, adolescents have the lowest utilization of health care services of any age group, and are the least likely to have health insurance. One in five has suffered a serious health problem that has failed to receive adequate medical care. Yet during the crucial and often difficult transition from childhood to adulthood, young people face unique physical, emotional and social challenges, as well as choices that can have life-long consequences.
The Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center has become a beacon for the care of this age group, not only as a model of outreach, prevention and intervention in a diverse community where young people are beset by multiple challenges, but also as a catalyst for broader change in the nation's healthcare agenda.
Since the coining of the term "geriatrics" by a Mount Sinai faculty
member, who also wrote the first text book on geriatric medicine, Mount Sinai
has been a leader in care for the elderly. The Brookdale Department of Geriatrics
and Adult Development was the first such discipline in an academic medical center
in the United States, and remains one of the strongest in the country. Such an
esteemed
history
in the field, combined with the School's commitment to serving the community,
has led to the development of numerous innovative programs.
One of the unique features of many of the School's programs for the elderly is their availability to both English- and Spanish-speaking people. Providing bilingual health services and educational programs opens new avenues of access for Mount Sinai's neighbors in East Harlem.
All of these programs are taken beyond the walls of the School to reach people of every economic, social and educational level. Doctors visit patients in their homes; educational programs are held at community centers, health fairs and other locations throughout the City; all of the programs work with community leaders to understand the needs of the population and broaden the reach of the programs. When new needs become evident in the community, new programs are developed to meet them.
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