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Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center

Integrating Health Services for Adolescents in New York State

NYHealth awarded Mount Sinai Hospital a grant to develop a blueprint to help other organizations replicate its effective approach to meeting the health needs of adolescents through integrated primary care services.

Primary Care

Grantee Name

Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center

Funding Area

Primary Care

Publication Date

October 2018

Grant Amount

$89,250

Grant Date:

September 2013 - August 2014

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Adolescents account for more than 20% of New York State’s population. The behavioral patterns established during adolescence can affect young people’s current health status and their risk for developing chronic diseases later in life.

Several health and social problems—smoking, sexually transmitted infections, and teen pregnancies—can peak or start during these years, and the financial costs of these preventable health problems are high. Best practices for meeting the needs of young people and preventing the downward spiral of poor behavioral choices have emerged in recent years. For example, a New York-based program that has achieved national recognition is the Mount Sinai Hospital Adolescent Health Center (the Center). However, there was little documentation that laid out the necessary elements of a successful approach to meeting the health and behavioral health needs of adolescents. NYHealth awarded the Center a grant to develop a blueprint that captures the key aspects of its successful model to help other organizations replicate its effective approach.

Outcomes and Lessons Learned

  • Created a blueprint, “Blueprint for Adolescent and Young Adult Health Care,” detailing the design and delivery of the Center’s model and approach to integrated primary care and other interdisciplinary services for adolescents and young adults from ages 10–24. The blueprint:
    • Identified the necessary care components of the model, as well as policy changes needed to support its replication.
    • Included guidelines to help providers implement key parts of the model based on their specific needs and capabilities.
    • Provided information on how to sustain and identify new federal and state funding dedicated to adolescent health care efforts.
  • Presented the blueprint to several departments within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Adolescent Health (OAH). OAH highlighted the Center’s success in its national call to action, “Adolescent Health: Think, Act, Grow.”

The grant was originally awarded through NYHealth’s priority area to advance primary care. The Center required several extensions to complete the project. By the time of its release, NYHealth had exited primary care as a priority area, and the product no longer aligned with Foundation priorities and strategies. Consequently, the report did not get as much traction as was originally intended.

On the national level, OAH continues to highlight the report as a resource on its website. NYHealth’s Building Healthy Communities program team also continues to share the blueprint with partners that express interest specifically in the blueprint or in adolescent health in general. For example, Covenant House and Harlem Community Justice Center recently asked for and received the blueprint.

 Co-Funding and Additional Funds Leveraged: N/A

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