From left: Raymond Rene, Office of Mental Health (OMH); Ruth Llanos, OMH Psychiatric Nurse; Paul Michael Avellaneda, OMH Psychiatric Nurse; Michelle Izmirly, DO; Gariy Livshits, OMH Treatment Team Leader
Earlier this year, the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) launched a program to bring vaccine doses to mental health patients, as many have trouble navigating the internet or don’t have smartphones and need help facilitating appointments. The OMH program was designed for patients to come to state psychiatric centers, but they were also eager to expand their reach and offered to set up vaccine pods at all OMH licensed clinics across the state. Michelle Izmirly, DO, Medical Director of Ambulatory Psychiatry at The Mount Sinai Hospital, reached out to OMH so that The Mount Sinai Hospital’s clinic could be included as a site.
“We see a very vulnerable patient population, and I knew a lot of our patients weren’t comfortable going to places like the Javits Center,” said Dr. Izmirly. “Some were even crying because they were so scared and so frustrated; often, they lacked internet access or cellular service to navigate the New York State vaccine eligibility website. We’re the ones they know. They know our setting and our staff, and they’re more comfortable getting the vaccine with us. They were so grateful that they had this option.”
It was a true team effort to pull it off. OMH scheduled a site visit to make sure the clinic had the appropriate setup: strong Wi-Fi, a comfortable area for injections, and supportive staff. Rajvee Vora, MD, Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs for the Department of Psychiatry, collaborated with Ania Wajnberg, MD, Medical Director of Ambulatory Care at The Mount Sinai Hospital and Site Lead for Vaccine Operations. They engaged the pharmacy and engineering departments to ensure the clinic had the appropriate equipment to safely store the vaccine.
Due to special efforts by Patricia Lamb, Chief of Ancillary and Support Services, Sue Mashni, PharmD, Chief Pharmacy Officer, and Michael Roche, PE, Senior Director of Engineering, the clinic space was converted to a safe and effective vaccine pod in one week. Eva Bayon, Administrative Manager, and Joan Bell, LCSW, Clinical Director of Ambulatory Psychiatry Services, handled the logistics of confirming and scheduling patients. Alicia Hurtado, MD, Associate Dean for Medical Student Wellness and Student Affairs, arranged for medical students to volunteer to monitor the patients for 15 minutes after they received the vaccination.
On April 8, the team vaccinated 72 patients—10 every 30 minutes starting at 9:30 am. And this might only be the beginning. The vaccine pod was such a success that OMH will return May 6 to reach the patients who were unable to attend their appointment that day. If OMH continues to provide the doses, the clinic could continue to offer it to their patients moving forward.
Cassidy Leverett, a care coordinator at the clinic, believes that the stability for these patients is key. “A lot of people find it really difficult to schedule the vaccine because it can be far from where they live or work, so it’s really great that people can go to a place they’re familiar with and see faces that they know. It’s been a very crazy time so it’s nice to have one stable place where you can go get your vaccine.”
Dr. Izmirly hopes this spreads beyond her clinic to other mental health clinics and practices. “You see so many news stories and research studies about people with mental illness contracting and dying from COVID-19 at higher rates than those who don’t suffer from mental illness,” she said. “We’ve even lost some of our own patients, which was completely devastating. This is an opportunity to help our own patients in our own settings, where we know they’ll feel comfortable.”
