Expanding the Medical Home

Imagine being homeless, suffering from a mental illness and/or substance abuse as well as multiple chronic medical problems, without the knowledge or the guidance to navigate through the government bureaucracy that surrounds SSI payments, Medicaid, supportive housing and other government programs. It’s almost impossible for many of us to even fathom that, but for many SUS consumers this is a way of life. Trying to coordinate your health care, housing, and income stream all while trying to get back on your feet and find employment is almost impossible without help.

For those who have found a home at SUS, a continuum of rehabilitation, treatment and support services are delivered with the needs and the preferences of the consumer in mind. SUS’ Recovery Center serves as the cornerstone of this service array. Since 2009, our ACT program,Clubhouse and Employment Services, have been co-located on one-and-a-half floors of a commercial building in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. The space also accommodates our outpatient Wellness Works Mental Health Clinic.

The Wellness Works Mental Health Clinic, opened in April, 2011, rounds out the service options available to consumers who are active in their own recovery. It serves as a “clinical home” for consumers in need by providing continuity over time as well as coordination across the domains of their lives (residence, work or training, family, and health); specialized tracks address the specific issues of the medically frail, young adults, and consumers with past experience with the criminal justice system. It is through the co-location of an outpatient Clinic component, that we are able to create an environment conducive to successful clinical treatment, person-centered care, and ultimately, recovery from mental illness.

Consumers now have relatively seamless access to all services and may choose to engage in a single service or a combination of services. In addition to reducing expenses associated with time and travel, consumers enjoy continuity in programming that provides consumers with the tools for managing their own recovery and wellness.

Medical Homes are a large initiative of Health Care Reform and are already being integrated into primary care all over the country. To learn more on patient-centered medical homes read The New York Times, “DOCTOR AND PATIENT; Putting Patients at the Center of the Medical Home”.