Surge of Community Support for Greenwich Hospital’s Expanded Behavioral Health Services

Greenwich Hospital has raised $4 million in a matter of months toward its expansion of behavioral health services for adolescents, young adults, and older adults.

The hospital reports a surge of support for its plans, in conjunction with Yale Psychiatry, to increase the breadth and scope of its mental health offerings and address an acute intergenerational need, heightened by the pandemic.

Greenwich Hospital received a generous gift toward its new Intensive Outpatient Program for patients 19 years and older, located at a new facility on 1281 East Main Street on the Stamford and Darien border. Building on the hospital’s long history of behavioral health care for adults, programs will include intensive outpatient services, cognitive-behavioral group and individual therapies, and medication management. 

To kickstart the new programmatic needs, a Westchester-based couple donated $1 million to fund the operational cost from its inception through the first few years.

“We are dedicated to helping the growing number of individuals in our region who need mental health care gain greater access to what can be life-saving diagnoses and treatments,” said the donor, who wishes to remain anonymous. “The hospital’s plans remove barriers to care by bringing outpatient services into the community, while also providing exceptional clinicians, services, and groundbreaking research in partnership with Yale Psychiatry. This is important work, and we feel fortunate to help make this vision a reality.”

Greenwich Hospital’s plans for its young adult and older adult population also include a new outpatient Interventional Psychiatry Service at the main hospital at 5 Perryridge Road.

This program is an extension of Yale Medicine’s Interventional Psychiatry Service – home to some of the world’s most pioneering experts within the field.

“Our community, like most around the nation, is experiencing an unprecedented need for mental health care,” said Greenwich Hospital President Diane Kelly, DNP, RN. “Our clinicians experience this need every day in what has truly reached epidemic proportions.”

Over recent months, community members rallied behind a lead matching gift given by longtime Greenwich residents Richard and Ellen Richman in January toward the creation of a new Adolescent Behavioral Health Outpatient Program. Inspired by the dollar-for-dollar match, the community came together to help Greenwich Hospital meet its $1 million goal. 

“The immediate, enthusiastic feedback from the community and the subsequent funds raised exceeded our match expectations, with more than 25 donors contributing $1.9 million to help make our vision for the first adolescent program of its kind in our community come to fruition,” said Noël Appel, SVP & chief development officer at Greenwich Hospital.

Key to these plans is a unique partnership between Greenwich Hospital and the Greenwich United Way.

The United Way is contributing funds to cover the design and construction costs of the space, demonstrating the organizations’ shared commitment to providing services to adolescents in need of mental health care.

Work is well underway to ready the adolescent program for an opening at 500 Wwest Putnam Avenue. The center, geared for youth ages 12-18, will include intensive adolescent outpatient services, cognitive-behavioral group interventions and medication management.

To learn more about Greenwich Hospital’s growth plans within Behavioral Health, or to make a gift in support of these expanding services, please contact Greenwich Hospital’s SVP and Chief Development Officer Noël Appel at [email protected] or 203-863-3861.

Greenwich Hospital is a member of Yale New Haven Health. Greenwich is a 206-bed regional medical center serving lower Fairfield County, Connecticut and Westchester County, New York. It is a major academic affiliate of Yale School of Medicine. Founded in 1903, Greenwich Hospital has evolved into a progressive medical center and teaching institution representing all medical specialties and offering a wide range of medical, surgical, diagnostic and wellness programs. Greenwich Hospital is recognized throughout the healthcare industry as a leader in service and patient satisfaction excellence. Greenwich Hospital has the prestigious Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the nation’s highest honor of nursing excellence.