HANYS honors Mount Sinai Health System with 2026 Community Health Improvement Award
Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center recognized for its impact on thousands of adolescents and young adults
The Healthcare Association of New York State is pleased to recognize Mount Sinai Health System with its 2026 Community Health Improvement Award for its Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center.
The Adolescent Health Center delivers comprehensive primary, mental, sexual and reproductive healthcare and prevention services to adolescents and young adults ages 10 to 26 at no direct cost to patients.
Through an integrated, confidential, youth-centered model that includes six school-based health centers, bilingual providers and trauma-informed care, the Adolescent Health Center removes financial, structural and stigma-related barriers to access.
In partnership with New York City public schools, Youth Represent, community-based organizations and public health agencies, the initiative advances New York State Prevention Agenda priorities by promoting childhood behavioral health, preventing substance misuse and expanding equitable access to preventive services for vulnerable adolescents across New York City.
“Health does not exist in isolation from the circumstances of people’s lives,” said Dr. Sarah Wood, director of the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center, division chief of Adolescent Medicine at Mount Sinai Health System and an associate professor of pediatrics in the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “At the Adolescent Health Center, we recognize that the challenges young people face are not only medical, but also psychological, behavioral, social, financial and legal. By working hand in hand with community partners, we address the complex factors that shape health and well-being, helping adolescents and young adults thrive and achieve better health outcomes.”
The Adolescent Health Center serves more than 8,400 adolescents and young adults annually, delivering more than 32,000 visits across its clinical services. More than 3,100 young women access contraceptive care and sexually transmitted disease testing annually.
While youth across the nation face often insurmountable barriers to mental healthcare access, in 2025 the Adolescent Health Center screened more than 6,000 patients for mental health needs and served 1,490 young people in its mental health programs.
“The work Mount Sinai is doing to improve the health of young people in their community is commendable,” said HANYS President and CEO Thomas J. Quatroche Jr., PhD. “The Adolescent Health Center meets patients where they are at and takes a holistic approach to their care. It provides a roadmap for how others can replicate a supportive, all-encompassing hub of care.”
The Community Health Improvement Award, established by HANYS in 1997, recognizes outstanding initiatives designed to improve the health and well-being of communities. The award is presented to facilities and programs that target specific community health needs while emphasizing the importance of health equity, leadership, collaboration with diverse community partners and achieving quantifiable results.
About HANYS
The Healthcare Association of New York State is New York’s statewide hospital and continuing care association, representing nonprofit and public hospitals, nursing homes, home care agencies and other healthcare organizations. HANYS is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance the health of individuals and communities by providing leadership, representation and service to healthcare providers and systems across the entire continuum of care.
About Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with approximately 48,000 employees working across seven hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, more than 600 research and clinical labs, a school of nursing, and leading schools of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care from conception through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes more than 9,000 primary and specialty care physicians and 10 free-standing joint-venture centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island and Florida. Hospitals within the System are consistently ranked by Newsweek’s® “The World’s Best Smart Hospitals,” “Best in State Hospitals,” “World’s Best Hospitals,” and “Best Specialty Hospitals” and by U.S. News & World Report’s® “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals.” The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report® “Best Hospitals” Honor Roll for 2025-2026.
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