NYAPRS Note; The following comes from Trish Marsik, Assistant Commissioner for NYC’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Please share widely.
Dear Mental Health Providers,
As you are probably aware by now, the impact of Hurricane Sandy has driven a far greater number of New Yorkers into shelters than originally anticipated.
As a result, the City is asking for volunteers to support the City’s efforts to staff these shelters. If you are a mental health clinician and are able to volunteer to provide disaster mental health support within the City’s Evacuation Shelters which have been opened in response to Hurricane Sandy, please follow the instructions below.
The first thing you need to do is register with the Medical Reserve Corp’s (MRC). You do this by simply going to the following link: https://apps.nyhealth.gov/vms/appmanager/vms/public?prog=34 and going to the log in now button. That will take you to a registration page where you follow the instructions to register for an account. (This takes approximately 5 minutes.)
Once you have completed the enrollment process with MRC please call the DOHMH Call Center at 1-347-396-7950 to schedule your shift.
Thank you for your willingness to assist.
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Please note: that you can use staff who are paid on DOHMH contracts and leverage under-spending and accruals in those contracts to support these additional costs. However, you must track these hours separate from your other contractual work so that we can leverage Federal reimbursement to the extent possible. If you have questions about this, let me know. Otherwise, follow the instructions above and call the number above. Responding to this email will NOT register you to assist. Please do not just show up to shelters without having been assigned. We are grateful for your dedication and service in this time of need.