Mayor Adams and NYC Health + Hospitals Celebrate Opening of ‘Bridge To Home’ Facility

Mayor Adams and NYC Health + Hospitals Celebrate Opening of 'Bridge To Home' Facility

New Innovative Model Will Provide Treatment and Temporary Housing to Patients with Severe Mental Illness, Deliver Comprehensive Behavioral Health Care to Keep People Off Streets

Program Offers Patients Stable Housing with Onsite Clinical Services and Behavioral Health Care to Support Recovery, Filling Critical Gap Between Inpatient Treatment and Permanent Housing Placement

Facility Will Welcome First Guests This Week, Provide Single Rooms to 46 Guests at Full Capacity

Announced in Mayor Adams' State of the City Earlier This Year, $650-Million Plan Builds on Adams Administration's Record of Largest Investment in Street Beds, Over 3,500 Formerly Unsheltered Homeless Individuals Placed in Permanent Housing

Sep 09, 2025

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and NYC Health + Hospitals CEO Dr. Mitchell Katz today announced the opening of NYC Health + Hospitals' "Bridge to Home" facility, a new, innovative support model designed to help patients living with severe mental illness who are ready to be discharged from the hospital but do not have a place to go. Bridge to Home is funded as part of the Adams administration's $650 million plan to address homelessness and support New Yorkers experiencing serious mental illness. The Bridge to Home program aims to fill this critical gap between inpatient treatment and permanent housing placement, offering patients a stable, home-like environment with onsite clinical services and behavioral health care to ensure they can continue their recovery while transitioning to permanent housing. The Midtown West facility will welcome its first guests this week, and provide single rooms to 46 guests, when at full capacity, with dedicated on-site clinical, behavioral health, and administrative support. The first-of-its-kind model was first unveiled as part of Mayor Adams' 2025 State of the City address.

"For decades, New Yorkers struggling with serious mental illness have been caught in a cycle between hospitals and streets. But now, with 'Bridge to Home,' we are finally breaking that cycle and creating an off-ramp to ensure New Yorkers leaving the hospital have a nurturing and safe environment to maintain their progress," said Mayor Adams. "Since the start, our administration has been laser focused on supporting our most vulnerable New Yorkers, especially those struggling with serious mental illness. From launching innovative co-response programs that engage New Yorkers on the streets to investing over $650 million in a comprehensive plan to address homelessness, and even helping pass legislation in Albany that allows us to finally ensure people get help even when they don't even recognize their own need for it, our administration has been committed to bringing real change, and this is yet another example of the transformation we are making across our city. I thank Dr. Katz and the entire team at NYC Health + Hospitals for their vision and their dedication to realizing this innovative model, which will impact countless lives."

"The launch of 'Bridge to Home' marks a significant step forward in our ability to improve the lives of our most vulnerable New Yorkers living with serious mental illness," said Dr. Mitchell Katz, President and CEO, NYC Health + Hospitals. "Too often, without the stability they need to heal, patients leave the hospital only to return to shelters or the street. 'Bridge to Home' offers a safe place to land - with on-site support, clinical care, and a path forward. By combining transitional housing with coordinated, compassionate services, we're helping people rebuild their lives and find a more permanent home."

By offering patients intensive treatment and comprehensive support, Bridge to Home aims to keep patients on a path toward sustained success, reducing unnecessary emergency room visits and inpatient hospitalizations, decreasing homelessness and reliance on shelters, and lowering interactions with the criminal justice system. 

Today's announcement also builds on Mayor Adams' "End the Culture of Anything Goes" campaign, which highlights the work the administration has done, to date, to change the culture and laws that prevented people with severe mental illness from getting the help they needed, while simultaneously making the investments necessary to support outreach, harm reduction, wraparound services, and housing - all in an effort to make lasting impacts in lives and communities. Mayor Adams is bringing the same energy and approach that proved to be successful in carving a new path to help people with severe mental illness to address other health crises, like drug addiction, playing out on city streets, and recently laid out plans to realize that vision by connecting those suffering with treatment.

Approximately 78,000 behavioral health patients receive services annually at NYC Health + Hospitals and nearly half of them experience homelessness. For these patients, however, recovery is often delayed due to the instability of housing. The Bridge to Home program provides a key solution by offering a place to stay with comprehensive on-site support while patients transition to permanent housing, reducing reliance on emergency care and improving long-term stability for patients as they prepare for permanent housing.

The Bridge to Home facility on West 36th Street ensures patients are in close proximity to Bellevue Hospital and the full spectrum of services offered within the NYC Health + Hospitals system, including behavioral health care, medical treatment, and housing navigation. The building will be staffed 24/7 by NYC Health + Hospitals professionals and feature a comprehensive, multidisciplinary treatment team consisting of psychiatric providers, social workers, nurses, and peer specialists. Behavioral health services will include medication management, individual and group therapy, substance use disorder treatment, and around-the-clock support.

During their stay, Bridge to Home guests will also receive access to crucial wraparound services such as case management and housing navigation to assist in securing permanent, supportive housing. The facility will offer three meals a day, daily group activities, and a range of therapeutic and recreational opportunities designed to support both privacy and socialization.

Bridge to Home creates a new link in the behavioral health continuum of care, providing the city's public hospital system a discharge option for individuals who no longer meet inpatient criteria but need additional supports in the community. The program expands the public hospital system's care options, which include three Extended Care Units. Extended Care Units offer inpatient care for patients with serious mental illness who have been historically disconnected from health and social services for up to 120 days, compared to an average of 21-day stay for patients in acute psychiatric inpatient care.

Bridge to Home will work in concert with NYC Health + Hospitals' "Housing for Health" program, which has housed nearly 1,500 patients, and is expected to improve engagement in outpatient care, reduce emergency room visits, and support successful transitions from homelessness to permanent housing. Housing for Health community partners will work with guests at the Bridge to Home facility to help secure permanent housing placements.

NYC Health + Hospitals' lease of the entire Hudson River Hotel on West 36th Street will provide single rooms to 46 guests at full capacity with dedicated on-site clinical, behavioral health, as well as administrative support. The three-year lease of the facility - approved by the NYC Health + Hospitals Board of Directors in late July - marks an important milestone in the city's effort to support patients transitioning from hospital care to long-term stability. The program aims to reduce reliance on emergency care, prevent hospital readmissions, and improve overall outcomes for vulnerable New Yorkers experiencing homelessness.

"Patients with serious mental illness who are ready for discharge need ongoing clinical and housing support - without it, their recovery may be disrupted, leading them back to the hospital or the street," said Dr. Ted Long, Senior Vice President for Ambulatory Care and Population Health, NYC Health + Hospitals. "With 'Bridge to Home' we are ready to address that unmet need with compassion and precision. It's not just a roof over someone's head, it's a clinical and community-based lifeline. With this model, we are building a seamless bridge between hospital care and long-term stability, ensuring patients stay connected to the care they need while gaining the housing security to heal and get back on their feet."

"As the largest provider of behavioral health services in the city, we feel a deep responsibility to continue to develop clinical models of care that support our most complex patients," said Omar Fattal, MD, MPH, Chief of Behavioral Health Services, NYC Health + Hospitals. "This week, we are proud to launch a new initiative - one that will provide clinical services to homeless individuals with serious mental illness in a home-like environment, while comprehensively addressing their needs in a patient-centered way to help them attain stability and permanent housing."

"'Bridge to Home' is an innovative transitional housing model that bolsters the city's continuum of care and adds to a robust safety net of specialized resources for New Yorkers who may be in danger of falling into unsheltered homelessness," said New York City Department of Social Services Commissioner Molly Wasow Park. "Congratulations to the clients who will soon benefit from this supportive and nurturing facility as they take the next steps toward achieving self-sufficiency."

"The challenges of helping patients with severe mental illness maintain stability in the community after inpatient care are well known," said Dr. Eric Wei, Chief Executive Officer, NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue. "'Bridge to Home' will be an essential part of Bellevue's continuum of care, improving patient outcomes by providing a holistic approach that includes housing, access to onsite clinical staff, and interventions designed to enhance functioning as patients transition into permanent housing. This transformative program will fill a critical gap in community treatment for individuals living with serious mental illness."

"Psychiatrists working in public settings have long hoped for a program like 'Bridge to Home,'" said Dr. Bipin Subedi, Chief of Psychiatry NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue. "Discharging patients with serious mental illness has often meant sending them into uncertain housing situations, despite the significant progress made during hospitalization. Access to a facility that meets both housing and clinical needs - while fostering a sense of community and improving day-to-day functioning - will be a powerful asset in supporting both short- and long-term recovery. 'Bridge to Home' will extend the high-quality care we provide at Bellevue into the community, offering vital continuity for our patients. It will truly transform how we support individuals with serious mental illness who are also struggling with unstable housing."

"'Bridge to Home' is a compassionate and necessary addition to our city's behavioral health care system," said New York City Councilmember Mercedes Narcisse. "As chair of the New York City Council's Committee on Hospitals, I commend NYC Health + Hospitals for taking a bold step to ensure patients aren't left behind after discharge. In my years as a nurse, I was often pained during the discharge process, knowing some patients still needed care and stability to truly heal. 'Bridge to Home' aims to fill that gap. Transitional housing with integrated care helps stabilize lives, reduce hospital readmissions, and bring dignity to those struggling with serious mental illness. This is the kind of thoughtful investment that saves lives and strengthens our communities."

"We at Praxis Housing welcome 'Bridge to Home' to our neighborhood," said Floyd Cuevas, director of operations, Praxis Housing Initiatives, Inc. "Over the last 30 years, we have seen many homeless persons with special needs struggle after they leave the hospital and return to living on the street. We hope that by improving medical care coordination and creating a path towards permanent housing, this model will help reduce the recidivism of homelessness for this marginalized population and be replicated across our city."

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About NYC Health + HospitalsNYC Health + Hospitals is the largest municipal health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city's five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system's trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health plan-all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 43,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit https://www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.