Timothy Sullivan, MD, has been appointed chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Staten Island University Hospital. In his new role, Dr. Sullivan will head a department that treats more than 1,450 inpatients and 23,000 outpatients annually through the hospital’s comprehensive mental health services, which includes substance abuse treatment.
“It’s a challenging and exciting time for psychiatry at Staten Island University Hospital and Northwell Health,” said Dr. Sullivan. “We’re doing things now that can greatly enhance the quality of care we provide to our patients.”
Two priorities of Dr. Sullivan’s are substance abuse treatment and working collaboratively with other health care professionals to better serve the mental health needs of the community.
To help combat the opioid problem in the borough, the hospital has expanded access to Suboxone – a drug that satisfies a patient’s craving without providing a euphoric high – as part of a treatment plan for individuals in its substance abuse counseling program. In addition, plans to hire additional staff and develop programs to treat children and adolescents, including one for adolescent substance abusers, are also on the horizon.
A collaborative care model currently in effect in the hospital’s outpatient medical clinic that uses a nurse practitioner to screen for patients who may need follow-up mental health care is also being considered for oncology patients.
“We have a great department and staff and we’re excited and ready to take on the mental health challenges facing our community,” said Dr. Sullivan.
For the last six years, Dr. Sullivan has served as vice chair and director of Postgraduate Medical Education where he helped establish a psychiatric residency program. That program graduated its first class in 2017, and currently has 16 residents at SIUH’s North and South sites.
Prior to coming to SIUH, Dr. Sullivan worked for 17 years at St. Vincent’s Catholic Medical Center where he was the Service Chief for Services for the Seriously Mentally Ill and clinical director for three outpatient programs.
Dr. Sullivan earned his medical degree from Dartmouth Medical College. He trained in internal medicine at St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center, where he also completed a fellowship in hematology-oncology. Dr. Sullivan did a residency in psychiatry at The New York HospitalCornell Medical Center.
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Northwell Health is New York State’s largest health care provider and private employer, with 23 hospitals, 665 outpatient facilities and more than 18,500 affiliated physicians. We care for over two million people annually in the New York metro area and beyond, thanks to philanthropic support from our communities. Our 66,000 employees – 16,000-plus nurses and 4,000 employed doctors, including members of Northwell Health Physician Partners – are working to change health care for the better. We’re making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. We’re training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra Northwell School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu.