Downstate's BRIDGE Program Receives $5M HRSA Grant

By Office of the President | Jun 5, 2024

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science was recently awarded a $5M grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to boost the Brooklyn Initiative to Develop Geriatrics Education (BRIDGE). Michael Reinhardt, M.D., Assistant Professor and Clinical Advisory Dean, leads the initiative and also serves as the Director of the Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship program and the SUNY Downstate Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease (CEAD).

BRIDGE aims to tackle the healthcare needs of Brooklyn’s elderly by building strong community partnerships and training healthcare workers in age-friendly and dementia-friendly care. The project will link Downstate with primary care sites and community organizations like NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County, the Brownsville Multiservice Family Health Center, and St. Thomas East End Medical Corp in the US Virgin Islands. It will also team up with various community and educational organizations.

Working closely with CEAD, BRIDGE plans to develop comprehensive training programs for healthcare professionals in geriatrics that will include improving curriculums for students in Medicine, Nursing, and Health Professions and creating a preceptorship program focused on mental health, Alzheimer’s, and related dementias. The program will also enhance public health initiatives.

Throughout these efforts, BRIDGE will emphasize wellness, diversity, equity, inclusion, and cultural humility, aiming to reflect and serve the community’s diverse needs.

The grant is a "whole-institution" effort, with Co-Directors and faculty from all schools and colleges helping to make the program a success. Many thanks to Co-Director of Geriatric Medicine Education Everton Prospere, M.D., Co-Director of Long-Term Care Education and Apprenticeship Programs Shirley Girouard, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, Co-Director of Interprofessional Community Engagement and Cultural Humility Tonya Taylor, Ph.D., MS, Co-Director of Public Health Education and Research Elizabeth Helzner, Ph.D., Co-Director of Health Professions Education Nancy Kline, Ph.D., OT, and Program Evaluation and Nursing Leadership Marie-Claire Roberts, Ph.D., MS, MPA. We also thank our partners from Kings County Hospital who are serving as Co-Directors of the Primary Care Preceptorship, Scott Mcgarvey, M.D., and Melissa Lee, M.D.