Lifestyle Medicine Program Expands to NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst as Part of Citywide Expansion

Life-style Drugs Program Expands to NYC Well being + Hospitals/Elmhurst as A part of Citywide Enlargement

Jan 11, 2024

New York, NY — NYC Well being + Hospitals at the moment introduced that its nationally acknowledged Life-style Drugs Program has expanded to NYC Well being + Hospitals/Elmhurst in Queens, the primary time this system is offered in Queens. That is the fourth of six new websites to make this system accessible citywide, following the latest launch of this system at NYC Well being + Hospitals/Jacobi within the Bronx and NYC Well being + Hospitals/Woodhull and Kings County in Brooklyn. The pilot program, launched at NYC Well being + Hospitals/Bellevue in 2019 with the assist of then-Borough President Eric Adams, has already seen lots of of sufferers. The Life-style Drugs Program’s group helps sufferers in making evidence-based life-style modifications, together with a healthful plant-based food plan, elevated bodily exercise, improved sleep habits, stress discount, avoidance of substance use, and stronger social connections. Adults residing with prediabetes, sort 2 diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart illness, or well being considerations associated to extra weight are eligible to enroll. This system can accommodate 48 new sufferers every month, and the care group at every website contains physicians, nurse practitioner(s), licensed nurse midwife (Woodhull solely), a dietitian, a well being coach, group well being employees, a psychologist, a program coordinator, and an train coach. The six new websites embrace NYC Well being + Hospitals/Jacobi, Woodhull, Kings County, and Elmhurst, which have already launched, and NYC Well being + Hospitals/Lincoln, and Gotham Well being, Vanderbilt launching within the coming months. Present sufferers of NYC Well being + Hospitals can get a referral to this system from their supplier, and people who find themselves not but sufferers of NYC Well being + Hospitals can see in the event that they qualify to enroll in this system by contacting 347-507-3695.

“All New Yorkers ought to have the information and sources wanted to make healthful conduct modifications, which for some, would possibly embrace the transition to an entire meals, plant-based food plan,” stated Mayor’s Workplace of Meals Coverage Government Director Kate MacKenzie. “MOFP applauds NYC Well being + Hospitals for yet one more growth of its life-style drugs program at NYC Well being + Hospitals/Elmhurst, the primary hospital in Queens to supply this system. Life-style drugs empowers sufferers to embrace life-style modifications within the administration of their continual situations. Increasing this mannequin of care throughout all 5 boroughs is important to growing life expectancy and making certain that every one New Yorkers can dwell the longer, more healthy lives they deserve irrespective of the place they obtain care.”

“I’m thrilled to rejoice the launch of the Life-style Drugs Program at NYC Well being + Hospitals/Elmhurst,” stated Michelle McMacken, MD, FACP, DipABLM, Government Director of Diet and Life-style Drugs at NYC Well being + Hospitals. “Wholesome life-style behaviors are foundational to stopping and treating widespread continual situations comparable to sort 2 diabetes and hypertension. The Life-style Drugs Program’s gifted interdisciplinary group will present sufferers with the steerage they should undertake more healthy habits, whereas additionally serving to to deal with meals insecurity and different key boundaries to life-style change. Kudos to NYC Well being + Hospitals/Elmhurst for providing this invaluable useful resource to sufferers and the group.”

“We’re very enthusiastic about launching the Life-style Drugs Program right here at Elmhurst,” stated Helen Arteaga Landaverde, PhD, CEO of NYC Well being + Hospitals/Elmhurst. “Our sufferers scuffling with continual illness situations which can be diet-related, comparable to sort 2 diabetes, coronary heart illness, and hypertension, will probably be additional empowered to take management of their well being and make good selections sooner or later. This program is one other step in the direction of serving to shut the well being fairness hole and making certain that individuals in our group get the care they want and deserve.”

“Though it’s true that through the years we now have saved many lives by treating diabetes, hypertension, and excessive ldl cholesterol with medicines, it comes at a excessive financial and comfort value to our sufferers,” stated Rand David, MD, Chief of Ambulatory Care at NYC Well being + Hospitals/Elmhurst. “With our Life-style Drugs Program, we now have a option to get rid of these situations by correcting them at their root causes: immobility, obese, and weight problems. I’m so grateful for this chance!”

“I’ve tried a number of packages through the years to enhance my well being, however nothing’s labored for me,” stated Aurora Ronquillo, a affected person of the Life-style Drugs Program at NYC Well being + Hospitals/Elmhurst. “I’ve weight problems, again ache, and an autoimmune illness, however the Life-style Drugs Program has already opened me as much as the probabilities for motion and train that may work for me. They’ve taught me about some wholesome substitutes for meals, and it tastes good! However the greatest influence thus far is that I’m studying to just accept myself within the mirror. I’m so hopeful as I start this journey.”

“I take two medicines for diabetes, however my A1C ranges are nonetheless too excessive,” stated Yvonne Rachmat, a affected person within the Life-style Drugs Program at NYC Well being + Hospitals/Elmhurst. “Up to now, the Life-style Drugs Program has inspired me to go for longer walks and use resistance bands to construct my energy. I’ve additionally discovered about parts of meals to eat at every meal. I’m consuming much less rice now, and I’ve my salad with avocado as a substitute of dressing. I’ve loved this program thus far, and I’d suggest it to my associates.”

The Life-style Drugs’s nine-month program supplies each affected person with the next sources:

• 6 to 9 one-on-one counseling classes. Sufferers may have 2-3 visits every with a doctor, nurse practitioner or licensed nurse midwife, a dietitian, and a well being coach to develop and implement a customized care plan.

• 14 weekly group lessons. Subjects embrace studying diet labels, grocery purchasing, meal planning and preparation, and sleep and stress administration strategies.

• 8 weekly train lessons.Sufferers will work with an train coach and take residence a resistance band for energy coaching.

• 6 free, month-to-month deliveries of seasonal contemporary produce. Sufferers will work with dietitians to find out about incorporating fruit and veggies into their food plan throughout culinary traditions and ability ranges. Scrumptious and wholesome recipes developed by the group’s dietitians accompany every produce field. (Launches early 2024)

• Well being Bucks. Sufferers may have entry to Well being Bucks, that are $2 coupons that can be utilized to buy contemporary fruit and veggies at NYC farmers markets. 5 of the seven program websites have farmers’ markets on their campus.

• Culinary expertise movies. Sufferers can be taught cooking expertise by way of brief movies developed by the Life-style Drugs group in partnership with an internet culinary college, Rouxbe. The movies will function wholesome cooking throughout varied culinary traditions, together with Caribbean, South American, Central American, and South Asian, and will probably be translated into Spanish, Mandarin, Bengali, and Haitian Creole. (Launches early 2024)

• A plant-based cookbook. Cookbooks on plant-based consuming for sort 2 diabetes can be found as nicely.

• Assist accessing advantages. Group well being employees will assist eligible sufferers entry SNAP advantages and diet sources.

Every website will accomplice with native community-based group(s) to discover methods to assist group members in diet and different facets of life-style change. The Life-style Drugs Program at NYC Well being + Hospitals/Elmhurst will collaborate with The New York Corridor of Science in Queens.

“I’m thrilled on the thrilling collaboration between New York Corridor of Science (NYSCI) and Life-style Drugs!” stated Delia Meza, Director of Household Studying and Group Partnerships at The New York Corridor of Science. “It’s an unbelievable fusion that embodies the very essence of progress and holistic well-being. NYSCI’s dedication to fostering scientific curiosity and innovation, coupled with Life-style Drugs’s emphasis on preventive care and well being optimization, marks the start of an thrilling collaboration. This collaboration guarantees to enhance the lives of our group members and empower them to make knowledgeable, proactive selections for his or her well-being. The prospect of this collaboration fills me with boundless optimism, realizing that our mixed efforts will undoubtedly pave the way in which for a more healthy, extra knowledgeable group.”

As soon as the entire websites are launched, this system will be capable to accommodate almost 4,000 sufferers per 12 months. With assist from the Metropolis of New York, NYC Well being + Hospitals will commit $3 million this 12 months and roughly $5 million yearly in future years to fund staffing and programmatic providers for the Life-style Drugs Packages.

Specific consideration has been positioned on making certain that the curriculum is related for sufferers from numerous backgrounds and experiences. For instance, the Spanish-language curriculum displays cultural diversifications, not merely a translation of the English-language model. Furthermore, particular person visits with the medical suppliers, dietitian, and well being coach permit for tailor-made conduct change suggestions primarily based on every affected person’s social, monetary, cultural, and household context.

Formal evaluations of the Bellevue pilot program revealed a profitable implementation course of, extraordinarily excessive demand for providers (greater than 850 sufferers requested to enroll within the first few months), and optimistic well being outcomes together with clinically and statistically vital enhancements in weight, glycemic management, and diastolic blood stress.

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About NYC Well being + Hospitals/Elmhurst
NYC Well being + Hospitals/Elmhurst, a part of the NYC Well being + Hospitals well being care system, is the key tertiary care supplier within the borough of Queens. The 545-bed hospital is a Degree 1 Trauma Middle, an Emergency Coronary heart Care Station, a Thrombectomy Succesful Stroke Receiving Middle, a Sexual Assault Response Workforce (SART) Middle of Excellence and a 911-Receiving Hospital. It’s a premiere well being care group for a number of specialties, together with surgical procedure, cardiology, girls’s well being, pediatrics, rehabilitation drugs, renal providers, and psychological well being providers. Final 12 months, the hospital acquired near 700,000 ambulatory care visits and over 130,000 emergency room visits. The hospital has been nationally-ranked by US Information and World Report in key areas, together with Coronary heart Failure, Coronary heart Assault, Stroke, Hip Fracture, Kidney Failure, Orthopedics, Pneumonia, and COPD. Keep linked on Fb at https://www.fb.com/ElmhurstHosp.

About NYC Well being + Hospitals
NYC Well being + Hospitals is the biggest municipal well being care system within the nation serving greater than 1,000,000 New Yorkers yearly in additional than 70 affected person care areas throughout town’s 5 boroughs. A sturdy community of outpatient, neighborhood-based major and specialty care facilities anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma facilities, nursing properties, post-acute care facilities, residence care company, and MetroPlus well being plan—all supported by 11 important hospitals. Its numerous workforce of greater than 43,000 workers is uniquely centered on empowering New Yorkers, with out exception, to dwell the healthiest life potential. For extra info, go to www.nychealthandhospitals.org and keep linked on Fb, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.