Interfaith Medical Center is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing quality healthcare to the residents of Kings County. The Hospital is dedicated to improving the health of the community it serves and to sustain an environment of excellence where medical, social and rehabilitative services are delivered proficiently, efficiently and effectively. Interfaith offers a range of preventive, diagnostic and treatment services, and educates its community to achieve optimal health outcomes and quality of life.
Annually, Interfaith provides a total of over 200, 000 outpatient clinic visits, over 50, 000 Emergency Department visits, and over 11, 000 discharges. Almost 15% of our outpatient services (over $10 million) are provided to uninsured individuals with no ability to pay for their care. Our Payer Mix is (33%) Medicare, (60%) Medicaid and Managed Medicaid, (2%) Commercial, (5%) Self-Pay.
Psychiatry is a major clinical service. Of the 287 beds in service, 120 beds are allocated for mental health services, 20 beds for drug detoxification and 20 beds for rehabilitation services. Behavioral health is a major service area on the outpatient side as well. During calendar year 2010 approximately 47% of outpatient visits were for mental health and/or chemical dependency services.
IMC operates residency training programs, training 120 residents in the specialties of Dentistry, Internal Medicine, Podiatry, and Ophthalmology. Additionally, Interfaith has Fellowships in Cardiology, Pulmonary and Gastroenterology.
The Community of Central Brooklyn faces serious health care access issues. Interfaith is located in a primary medical care Health Professional Shortage Area as designated by the federal government. The shortage of primary care providers combined with the social problems that plague low income, high poverty communities have led to serious health status consequences for its residents. In Central Brooklyn, the death rate per 100,000 residents is higher by 30% for all causes compared to New York City as a whole.
Access to good medical care helps people prevent illnesses, identify health conditions early, and treat health problems. Some conditions can and should be managed regularly outside the hospital. Higher rates of these avoidable hospitalizations can indicate reduced access to health care in a community. Having a "medical home" - a personal doctor or other health care provider and a regular place of care other than the emergency department (ED) - is a critical component of good health care access. In the Central Brooklyn, residents are more likely to be without a regular doctor (29%) than those in Brooklyn (23%) and NYC overall (24%). Central Brooklyn residents are also more likely to go to the ED when they are sick or need health advice (13%) than those in Brooklyn and NYC overall (8%).
Central Brooklyn Health Status indicators include:
In 2003-2004 the average annual cancer death rate was 25% higher than Brooklyn and NYC overall rates
12% of adults have diabetes, compared to 9% in New York City overall
32% of adults have high blood pressure, compared to (28%) in Brooklyn and (26%) in New York City overall
Adults are more likely to be obese (29%) than adults in Brooklyn (23%) and New York City overall (20%)
Ranks 37th among 42 NYC communities in rate of avoidable hospitalization
In response to the critical needs of the community, IMC is dedicated to improving access to primary care services that emphasize disease prevention and healthy lifestyles.
Language
Interfaith Medical Center's goal is to meet the ever ending needs of our surrounding communities by successfully overcoming language barriers that may hinder your health care experience at our facility. Interfaith Medical Center is also proud to have a multiethnic and multilingual personnel especially in the patient care areas. Amongst them over 50 languages are represented. In addition, a telephone interpreter service is available to provide support in 170 languages twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
