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NYC Health + Hospitals: Leader In LGBTQ+ Equality; Sloan Public Health Award; New Bridge To Home Facility In Brooklyn

NYC Health + Hospitals
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Editor’s note: We have covered the Bridge To Home program previously.  In instances of mental illness, especially when coupled with homelessness, providing this bridge to stable housing can make the difference between staying in therapy and returning to the streets for those suffering from these disorders. This hospital network has been recognized for upholding equitable standards in the past as well. 

 

18 NYC HEALTH + HOSPITALS FACILITIES RECOGNIZED AS LGBTQ+ HEALTHCARE EQUALITY LEADERS BY THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FOUNDATION

 

NYC Health + Hospitals facilities have consistently received the designation since 2015

 

(New York, NY) — NYC Health + Hospitals today announced that 18 of its facilities – all 11 hospitals and 7 Gotham Health primary care sites – were named 2026 LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leaders by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. All 18 sites earned the top score of 100 for their commitment to serving LGBTQ+ patients with best practices for equity and inclusion. NYC Health + Hospitals facilities have consistently received the designation since 2015. The recognition was part of the Foundation’s biennial 2026 Healthcare Equality Index, the industry standard benchmarking tool for LGBTQ+ inclusion and equity practices in the health care field. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization. Read the full 2026 Healthcare Equality Index here.

“As the largest municipal health care system in the country, in a city with the largest LGBTQ+ population in the country, NYC Health + Hospitals remains dedicated to providing safe and affirming care for the LGBTQ+ community. No exceptions,” said James Derham, Director for LGBTQ+ Equity at NYC Health + Hospitals. “NYC Health + Hospitals is proud to announce that all 18 of our eligible facilities have earned the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader designation again in 2026 – a recognition these facilities have earned consistently since 2015. We are honored to be part of the 44% of participating facilities nationwide earning this highest designation. This recognition reflects our ongoing commitment to align our facilities with nationwide best practices regarding non-discrimination and staff training, patient services and support, employee benefits and polities, and patient and community engagement. This recognition reflects our ongoing commitment to advancing LGBTQ+ equity for our patients, visitors, employees, and the communities we serve.”

The 18 NYC Health + Hospitals facilities achieving the LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader award are:

Bronx

Brooklyn

Manhattan

Queens

Staten Island 

“Health care access for the LGBTQ+ community in 2026 is a tale of both important progress and dangerous setbacks,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign.

“Even amid extraordinary pressure, many healthcare institutions are continuing to show up for LGBTQ+ patients and staff. Doctors want to take care of their patients in the best way they can. Even so, disinformation campaigns driven by a small minority of politicians who use trans youth as a scapegoat for their own failures and who are dismantling HIV care are having a real impact on people’s lives. It’s vital for all LGBTQ+ people to get the most accurate information we have on access to care across the country and we are proud of the ways in which the Healthcare Equality Index helps the community understand this.”

The Healthcare Equality Index helps healthcare facilities maintain and strengthen LGBTQ+-inclusive care even under extraordinary pressure. The report offers aggregate findings, benchmarks, and guidance for adaptation. The standard remains: every patient deserves safe, respectful, inclusive, dignified care. In 2026:

 

 

NYC HEALTH + HOSPITALS SYSTEM CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER FOR CLINICAL SERVICES AND POPULATION HEALTH DR. TED LONG RECEIVES 2026 SLOAN PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD

Dr. Long is recognized for transforming public health care access, leading major crisis response initiatives, and advancing care for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers

 

The Sloan Public Service Awards, regarded as one of New York City’s highest honors for career public service, recognizes extraordinary public servants whose leadership, innovation, and commitment strengthen both the lives of New Yorkers and the effectiveness of government

 

2026 Sloan Public Service Award honoree Dr. Ted Long

 

 

(New York, NY) – NYC Health + Hospitals and the Fund for the City of New York today announced that Ted Long, MD, MHS, Senior Vice President and System Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for Clinical Services and Population Health, has been selected as a recipient of the 2026 Sloan Public Service Award, regarded as one of New York City’s highest honors for career public service. Dr. Long is recognized for his transformative leadership expanding health care access and leading some of New York City’s most significant health care and humanitarian response efforts in recent history. Over the course of his tenure at NYC Health + Hospitals, he has played a central role in improving primary care access, strengthening population health systems, and developing large-scale crisis response initiatives serving millions of New Yorkers. Dr. Long and his fellow honorees will be recognized this evening at the 2026 Sloan Public Service Awards Citywide Reception and Ceremony at the New York Historical Society.

“My north star is that health care is a human right,” said Dr. Long. “Through starting the NYC Care program, to providing health care to hundreds of thousands of newly arriving asylum seekers, NYC Health + Hospitals has proven what’s possible when we treat health care as a right in our city. As a primary care doctor, I have the privilege of seeing what that means for my patients every week, and it is lifechanging. I want to thank my team for their tireless work and constant commitment to our mission. You’ve proven that universal health care access can go from a dream to reality for hundreds of thousands of people, and set the bar that, if others follow the models we’ve created, it could be true for millions of people across the country”


“Whatever the issue is, no matter the size or difficulty of the request, Ted’s answer is always ‘Yes!” said Mitchell Katz, MD, President and CEO, NYC Health + Hospitals. “He’s always there to help. And to lead. He operates at an extremely high energy level, and he approaches everything he undertakes with care and with kindness. He’s incredibly optimistic. But then, he has reason to think things will succeed, because with him, they always do.”

“Congratulations to Dr. Ted Long, who has been an integral partner in building a healthier, more equitable New York City,” said Dr. Helen Arteaga, NYC Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services. “As both a doctor and a public servant, Ted brings a unique, infectious enthusiasm to every task, and we thank him for bringing that energy every day as he works tirelessly to improve the lives of so many New Yorkers.”

“Ted is an extraordinary problem solver, and capable of dealing with immense problems,” said Anne Williams-Isom, former NYC Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services. “But he is first of all a doctor, and that is evident in the way he approaches everything. He listens. He treats everyone with respect and dignity. He comes to his work with an open heart. And when he formulates a plan of action, you know he has considered the whole picture and everyone involved. He diagnoses every problem, and comes up with every solution, with the well-being of everyone as his aim. That’s why it’s so rewarding to work with him. That’s his secret sauce.”

“The Test + Trace plan that New York City developed to deal with the COVID epidemic set a standard for the rest of the nation,” said Dr. Andrew Wallach, NYC Health + Hospitals Ambulatory Care Chief Medical Officer. “That, and other initiatives that Ted launched and led, require so many different skills—analysis, problem-solving, imagination to think them up; management and leadership to execute them. But they also require something else to get buy-in and cooperation from an enormous range of government, corporate, nonprofit, research, faith-based, and community constituents. They require trust and respect. And Ted has earned that in the highest degree. Everyone in every organization and every community that works with him holds him in the highest regard and believes that he will get the job done in a way that is best for everyone.”

“Dr. Long has endless energy and enthusiasm, which he uses to respond to the needs of New Yorkers — new and living here — at their most critical times,” said Gail Brewer, New York City Council Member. “He delivers extraordinary service with ingenuity, energy, and compassion; has commitment beyond the call of duty; puts in an outstanding and reliable performance, both under the pressure of daily routine and in times of crisis; and is dedicated to upholding the public interest amidst competing interests, pressures, and demands. He brings the compassion and sensitivity of a primary care physician to thousands of NYC Health + Hospitals’ patients, as well as the 178,000 asylum seekers who come through the city’s Arrival Center.”

Dr. Long joined NYC Health + Hospitals in 2018 to lead a major transformation of NYC Health + Hospitals’ ambulatory care network at a time when the public health care system faced a $1.8 billion structural deficit, long wait times for primary care appointments, and declining patient retention. Under his leadership, the system has reduced wait times for new primary care appointments by 50 percent, expanded patient access, and contributed significantly to the elimination of the system’s structural deficit.

He also founded NYC Care, the nation’s largest and most comprehensive municipal health care access initiative for uninsured residents. The program guarantees low-cost or no-cost health care access for New Yorkers regardless of immigration status or ability to pay. Since launching in 2019, NYC Care grew to more than 145,000 active members and provided more than one million primary care appointments, along with hundreds of thousands of specialty, behavioral health, women’s health, and eye care visits.

Dr. Long’s leadership became especially visible during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he served as executive director of the NYC Test & Trace Corps, the country’s largest municipal contact tracing initiative. The program reached more than 1.7 million New Yorkers diagnosed with COVID-19, identified approximately 1.8 million close contacts, and distributed and administered over 150 million COVID-19 tests and 2.2 million vaccines across New York City. As the city transitioned from pandemic response to recovery, Dr. Long expanded the initiative into the Test & Treat Corps, preserving critical public health infrastructure and community outreach systems that would later prove essential during the arrival of asylum seekers to New York City beginning in 2022.

Dr. Long led NYC Health + Hospitals’ humanitarian response infrastructure for migrants and asylum seekers, including the City’s Arrival Center and Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers (HERRCs). Through these initiatives, NYC Health + Hospitals provided medical care, case management, legal assistance coordination, and social support services for hundreds of thousands of newly arriving migrants and asylum seekers. The system’s Arrival Center, widely regarded as the first operation of its kind in the nation, served approximately 178,000 individuals from over 160 countries.

While overseeing some of the city’s largest health care and emergency response systems, Dr. Long continues to practice each week as a primary care physician at NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Morrisania in the Bronx, maintaining direct patient relationships that continue to shape his leadership philosophy and approach to public service.

Dr. Long previously served as senior medical officer for the Quality Measurement and Value-Based Incentives Group at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), where he led more than 20 federal programs. Before coming to CMS, Dr. Long served as medical director at the Rhode Island State Department of Health, where he led health care planning for the State.

Dr. Long did his undergraduate work, residency training, and post-graduate master’s work in health services research at Yale University. He has authored over 60 peer-reviewed articles that have been published in journals including JAMA, Nature Communications, and Lancet Public Health. Dr. Long is a Clinical Professor at NYU Langone’s Department of Population Health and on faculty at the Yale School of Medicine.

Presented by the Fund for the City of New York since 1973, the Sloan Public Service Awards recognize extraordinary public servants whose leadership, innovation, and commitment to strengthen both the lives of New Yorkers and the effectiveness of government. In honoring Dr. Long, the Sloan Public Service Awards also recognize the critical role public health care systems and career public servants play in advancing equity, strengthening public trust, and responding to complex challenges facing New York City communities.

 

 

 

 

NYC HEALTH + HOSPITALS TO OPEN SECOND BRIDGE TO HOME FACILITY IN BROOKLYN TO EXPAND TRANSITIONAL HOUSING PROGRAM FOR UNHOUSED NEW YORKERS DIAGNOSED WITH SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS

New Brooklyn site will provide transitional housing and onsite clinical services for an additional 50 guests and is expected to open in early fall 2026

More than 87% of current program guests attend clinical visits at least once per week, and approximately two thirds have completed their housing applications

 

The Bridge to Home site in Brooklyn will provide an additional 50 private rooms with onsite clinical health, behavioral health care, and housing application service

 

 

(New York, NY) – NYC Health + Hospitals today announced that it will expand the Bridge to Home program to Brooklyn, building on the success of the program’s Manhattan site. Bridge to Home aims to break the cycle between street, shelter, and recurring hospital admission for unhoused New Yorkers diagnosed with serious mental illness (SMI) by addressing the gap between inpatient psychiatric treatment and permanent housing placement. The program offers unhoused patients with SMI a stable, home-like environment with onsite clinical services, behavioral health care, and housing application assistance to ensure they can continue their recovery while they transition to permanent housing. Earlier this month, the NYC Health + Hospitals Board of Directors approved a five-year lease to expand the program to Brooklyn. Like its Manhattan counterpart, the Bridge to Home site in Crown Heights, Brooklyn will serve up to 50 guests with 24/7 on-site services and stays of up to 12 months, until guests are connected to permanent, supportive housing. Providers from NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull will work on-site to ensure guests have access to a full spectrum of health care services, including behavioral health care, medical treatment, social services and housing navigation. The Brooklyn site is expected to welcome its first guests in early fall 2026.

The first Bridge to Home site opened in Midtown Manhattan in September 2025 and in seven months has already demonstrated positive outcomes. More than 87% of current guests attend weekly clinical visits, approximately two thirds have completed housing applications, four guests have been matched with permanent housing, and three guests have successfully transitioned into permanent supportive housing

“The core of Bridge to Home is simple: to provide our most vulnerable neighbors with the care and clinical services they need to recover,” said Mayor Mamdani. “For New Yorkers living with serious mental illness, the cycle between shelters, hospitals and the streets has become a revolving door that the City has accepted for too long. This program will help break that cycle with continuous care and a path to permanent housing.”

“Bridge to Home has already shown us what is possible when we meet patients where they are and give them the time, stability, and services they need to recover,” said NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Mitchell Katz, MD. “Opening a second location in Brooklyn makes good on our commitment to every patient who has been waiting for this opportunity, and brings us closer to the day when no eligible patient leaves our hospitals without a safe, supportive place to go.”

“The Bridge to Home program takes an important step forward in breaking the cycle of patients with severe mental illness going back and forth from the hospital to the street,” said NYC Health + Hospitals Chief Medical Officer for Clinical Services and Population Health, Ted Long, MD, MHS. “We’ve built a strong bridge between hospital care and long-term housing stability, ensuring patients stay connected to care at our site with around the clock behavioral health support from our world-class Psychiatry team. I am excited to bring this model to Brooklyn to give New Yorkers living with severe mental illness the care they deserve as we help them get into permanent housing.”

“The expansion of Bridge to Home reflects our continued commitment to supporting New Yorkers with complex behavioral health and social service needs,” said Dr. Omar Fattal, Chief Behavioral Health Officer, NYC Health + Hospitals. “Building on the success of the first site, we are proud to expand the pathway from hospitalization to housing and long-term recovery, helping fill a gap in the continuum of care. This work complements the pathway created through our Extended Care Units, which provide patients with serious mental illness up to 120 days of inpatient care to stabilize, rehabilitate, and prepare for meaningful community reintegration.”

Since the Bridge to Home location in Manhattan opened its doors in September 2025, NYC Health + Hospitals has seen sustained demand among eligible patients for whom the program is clinically appropriate. Guests must be NYC Health + Hospitals behavioral health patients, over the age of 18, have been diagnosed with a serious mental illness, experienced chronic housing instability, referred by a NYC Health + Hospitals provider, and willing to participate in the program. The Brooklyn expansion will allow the public health care system to extend support to a total of up to 100 New Yorkers in need.

Bridge to Home completes a missing link in the behavioral health continuum of care, providing the city’s public hospital system an additional discharge option for individuals who no longer meet inpatient criteria but need additional support in the community. The program expands the care provided by the system’s three Extended Care Units (ECUs), which offer inpatient care for patients with SMI who have been historically disconnected from health and social services for up to 120 days.

The Brooklyn site will be staffed 24/7 by NYC Health + Hospitals professionals and features a comprehensive, multidisciplinary treatment team consisting of psychiatric providers, social workers, nurses, and peer specialists. Behavioral health services will include individual and group therapy, substance use disorder treatment, and around-the-clock support. Guests will also receive access to wraparound services including case management and housing navigation to assist in securing permanent supportive housing.

The site will offer daily group activities and a range of therapeutic and recreational opportunities designed to support both privacy and community. Its location in Central Brooklyn ensures that guests remain in close proximity to NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull and the full spectrum of services within the NYC Health + Hospitals system.

The Bridge to Home model builds upon the success of Housing for Health, a program that has already housed nearly 1,500 patients, and is expected to improve engagement in outpatient care, reduce emergency room visits, and support successful transitions from homelessness to permanent housing.

“The expansion of NYC Health + Hospitals’ Bridge to Home program to Brooklyn is a powerful investment in some of our city’s most vulnerable neighbors living with serious mental illness and housing insecurity,” said Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09). “By providing transitional housing, onsite clinical care, and housing navigation services, this program creates a critical pathway to stability and recovery for up to 50 additional New Yorkers. Bridge to Home has a successful track across Manhattan, and I applaud NYC Health + Hospitals for bringing this proven model to Crown Heights – much-needed behavioral health and housing support to strengthen Brooklyn.”

“More often than not, New Yorkers leaving inpatient psychiatric care are discharged without the long-term support needed to stay healthy and housed,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. “Bridge to Home creates the kind of stability and continuity of care that can make recovery possible. I’m grateful to NYC Health + Hospitals for bringing this critical investment to Brooklyn and treating mental health and housing insecurity with the urgency they deserve.”

“I’m very pleased to see the Bridge to Home program expanding to another borough,” said New York State Senator Liz Krueger. “In just the few short months that the Manhattan location has been operating, it has clearly demonstrated what an important and effective model this is. Bridge to Home provides critical support and services to give individuals the time they need to recover and the resources they need to move into permanent housing and live well as part of the community.”

“The expansion of Bridge to Home into Brooklyn is an important investment in the health, stability, and dignity of some of our most vulnerable neighbors,” said New York State Assembly Member Stefani L. Zinerman. “By bringing together behavioral health services, supportive care, and pathways to permanent housing, this program recognizes that recovery requires both compassion and continuity of support. I am proud to see this critical resource coming to Brooklyn and helping more New Yorkers move toward long-term stability and move forward with hope.”

“Recovery does not end when a patient leaves the hospital, and no New Yorker should be left without support during that transition,” said New York State Assembly Jo Anne Simon, Chair of the Committee on Mental Health. “Bridge to Home is helping close that gap by providing treatment, wraparound support, and a safe path toward permanent housing. I commend NYC Health + Hospitals for expanding this innovative program with a second location in Brooklyn.”

“For too long, New Yorkers with serious mental illness have been caught in a revolving door between our hospitals, our streets, and our shelters,” said City Council Member Mercedes Narcisse, Chair of the Committee on Hospitals. “Bridge to Home addresses a real gap in care by giving people the stability and support they need to truly recover. I am glad to see this model coming to Brooklyn, and I look forward to seeing it deliver for the New Yorkers who need it most.”

“Programs like Bridge to Home are critical: too many New Yorkers living with serious mental illness are discharged from inpatient care with nowhere stable to go, making it incredibly difficult to continue treatment or maintain any kind of stability. We cannot continue responding to homelessness and mental health crises as though housing is separate and apart from healthcare,” said New York City Council Member Crystal Hudson, Chair of the Committee on General Welfare. “This program creates a real bridge between inpatient treatment and permanent housing while giving people the support and time they need to recover. I am grateful to NYC Health + Hospitals for bringing this investment to my district in Brooklyn and for continuing to build solutions that recognize the humanity and dignity of our unhoused neighbors.”

“The Bridge to Home program has worked wonders for unhoused New Yorkers living with mental illness,” said New York City Council Member Tiffany Cabán, Chair of the Committee on Mental Health and Substance Use. “Providing a stable living situation, wraparound support, and giving folks agency in their own care has enabled the vast majority of people living in the existing Bridge to Home site to not just survive but begin to thrive. This is exactly the kind of program we need to be investing in to deliver safety and health to all New Yorkers, including those living with serious mental illness.”

 

Banner Image: Bridge to Home site in Brooklyn will provide an additional 50 private rooms with onsite clinical health, behavioral health care, and housing application services. Image Credit – NYC H+H


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