GMHC Opens State-of-the-Art Mental Health Clinic in Midtown West

Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) announced the opening of its state-of-the-art GMHC Carl Jacobs Mental Health Clinic at the organization's headquarters at 446 West 33rd Street.

GMHC is the world's first and leading HIV and AIDS service organization --- currently serving nearly 12,000 people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS. As a New York State Office of Mental Health Article 31 licensed outpatient clinic, the Carl Jacobs Mental Health Clinic will allow GMHC to incorporate new and innovative mental health treatment and counseling into its comprehensive service-delivery model.

The GMHC Carl Jacobs Mental Health Clinic will be available to adult New Yorkers of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and income levels, regardless of HIV status. This mental health clinic will offer vital services to increase access to care, helping individuals with HIV/AIDS remain virally suppressed and offer services to help HIV negative high-risk individuals from contracting HIV.

"Access to affordable quality mental health services is a crucial component of health care, especially comprehensive HIV care," said GMHC CEO Kelsey Louie. "GMHC is incredibly proud to announce the opening of the Carl Jacobs Mental Health Clinic, which will help address the emotional and psychological needs often experienced by people living with or at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. This clinic will help all clients served lead healthier lives."

"We are proud to help unveil the Carl Jacobs Mental Health Clinic and open GMHC's doors to all New Yorkers in need of comprehensive mental health services, especially those struggling to attain affordable healthcare and otherwise lacking access to these critical services," said Roberta A. Kaplan and Michael C. Harwood, GMHC Board Co-Chairs. "By offering these services, GMHC will be better equipped to serve our clients' diverse needs, and bring us one step closer to ending the AIDS epidemic by 2020."

Fostering a safe and inclusive environment for GMHC clients and the community-at-large, the new Carl Jacobs Mental Health Clinic will be a significant tool in the organization's efforts to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York by 2020. Its services will include individual, couples, family, and group therapy, serving diverse communities living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. Services will particularly target populations at disproportionately higher risk of contracting HIV, such as young gay and bisexual men of color and transgender people

The clinic will include 24/7 emergency support and triage to enrolled clients, and provide an entry point for linkage to GMHC's broader programs and services, including testing, prevention, nutrition, legal representation, supportive housing, and job-readiness. The clinic will serve clients covered by Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance and will be available to the uninsured on a sliding fee scale. Services will be available in English and Spanish.

"To achieve the goals set out by Governor Cuomo to end the epidemic, GMHC is expanding the support services available for people living with and at risk for HIV/AIDS, including mental health services," said Johanne Morne, Director of the New York State AIDS Institute. "We've heard repeatedly from community members that there is a need for increased access to these services, and we continue to address these priority needs through program development and collaborative efforts. I applaud GMHC for their vision and commitment to expanding access to mental health and support services, and improving the overall health of people living with HIV/AIDS."

"Historically, GMHC has fearlessly led the way in providing services to support the health and well-being of the HIV-positive community, as well as those at risk of HIV exposure," said Dr. Demetre C. Daskalakis, Acting Deputy Commissioner of Disease Control at the New York City Health Department. "Achieving the end of the HIV epidemic requires a response to the causative agents of infection and barriers to HIV care. The robust supportive services provided by GMHC exist to mitigate the socioeconomic roots that drive the epidemic. With this mission expansion, GMHC bolsters its resources to tackle mental health-related challenges to the health and happiness of their community."

"The decades of advocacy by GMHC and others on behalf of the HIV-positive community has produced a blueprint for healthcare providers to understand how to administer integrated and holistic healthcare. By including greater access to mental health services, GMHC advances that tradition and reminds health care professionals that there is no health without mental health," said Dr. Gary Belkin, Executive Deputy Commissioner for Mental Hygiene at the New York City Health Department.

Due to GMHC's effective programs and services, over 90 percent of clients who test positive for HIV at GMHC's testing center are linked to comprehensive care and attain HIV viral suppression.