Erie County Medical Center
Buffalo, New York
For over 37 years as a Psychiatric Nurse my love and passion for our community has been a driving force to ensure equity of care. My vast knowledge base of psychiatric illness, treatments, and community resources have made an impact on tens of thousands of patients and their families fighting their way towards health and wellness.
While our culture has grown in respect to the stigma of mental illness we still have a lot of work to do both locally and nationally, my commitment is lifelong. As the current Director of the largest Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program in New York State, seeing approximately 13,000 annually, I see firsthand what the many needs of our patients are in order to maintain stability in our community. I am involved with several projects with Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment Program (DSRIP) to bridge the gaps of service and decrease the health disparities that our patients struggle with daily as well.
Housing is one of the most pressing challenges that we see every day, truly a “wicked problem”. At least half of our patients have some sort of housing issue that interfere with their daily lives. Our patients are so complex including numerous co-morbidities that we have to address both the medical and mental health needs in order for this to be successful.
Working with a diverse interdisciplinary team with many areas of expertise will drive this project forward making a true impact on our community. By identifying the roadblocks, planning, and implementing these changes I am confident that this will significantly decrease the number of medical and psychiatric ED visits and improve quality of life.
It is a true honor to be able to be part of the change that our community so deserves!