Bailey House CEO Receives Prestigious CHIP Award

On Wednesday, July 23, Bailey House CEO Gina Quattrochi received the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Health Care Executive Program Community Health Improvement Project (CHIP) Award. The CHIP Award honors leaders in health care who have made a difference through a specific initiative to improve the well-being of people living in their community.

"Untreated mental illness, including trauma, is a severe, under-recognized public health crisis and a major barrier to health care access, quality of care and cost reduction. When you offer harm reduction-based, culturally competent services to 'hard to engage' individuals, they engage and prosper," said Quattrochi.

The Bailey House CHIP was the opening of a Behavioral Health Center (BHC) at the agency's multi-service Rand Harlan Center in East Harlem. The BHC opened its doors in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, which devastated Bailey House's landmark West Village residence Bailey-Holt House. Despite the immense effort necessary to recover from the storm, Quattrochi and Bailey House staff cut the ribbon for the BHC one month after Superstorm Sandy hit New York.

In her CHIP proposal, Quattrochi outlined the lack of culturally competent behavioral health care in East Harlem, an area with some of the highest rates of mental illness, poverty, homelessness, HIV incidence, incarceration and injection drug use in New York City.

Bailey House assessed area mental health resources and determined that despite some availability, most clinics refused to treat the most vulnerable individuals -- active substance users, the homeless, sex workers and those with complex medical issues. There were also few clinics that offered bilingual services. To address these disparities, Bailey House decided to open the BHC.

The BHC has been open for over a year and serves a diverse population, including lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals; people who are homeless and unstably housed; people living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic illnesses; substance users; and transgender individuals.

Staff operate under Bailey House's standard of trauma-informed care, collaborating with clients to achieve successful health outcomes and work through past and current trauma. The CHIP award showcases Bailey House's efforts to address health disparities and improve access to health care for the most vulnerable New Yorkers.

Bailey House has provided a continuum of supportive housing, case management and health care navigation and wraparound support services to people living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic illnesses for over 30 years.

For more information, visit http://www.baileyhouse.org