The Tompkins County Legislature passed a resolution a year ago to support the Zero Suicide Model, calling on local healthcare and behavioral healthcare providers to follow the model’s systematic clinical approach to preventing suicides.

Members of the Cayuga Health Partners Care Coordination Team

Cayuga Health Partners, a Physician-Hospital Organization comprising more than 40 medical practices and 200 physicians and a leader of healthcare delivery in Tompkins County, pledged to become a “Zero Suicide Champion” with the goal of implementing the suicide prevention model in our local healthcare network.

That pledge was made during a June 2018 meeting of the Tompkins County Suicide Prevention Coalition, formed in 2017 by more than 30 community-based organizations. Others announcing their commitment included Cayuga Medical Center, Tompkins County Mental Health Services, Alcohol & Drug Council of Tompkins County, Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service, Cornell Health of Cornell University, and Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca.

The Zero Suicide Model involves a foundational belief that suicide deaths for those engaged in the healthcare system are preventable. It is clear that safer suicide care is in the best interest of our patient population. I know for myself and my team, we all want to go to bed at night knowing we’ve done everything in our power to support the well being of the communities we serve.

The case for Zero Suicide is compelling. The New York State Office of Mental Health has released data showing that an overwhelming number of those who die by suicide are often already engaged in health systems. More than 80 percent of people who die by suicide have had health care visits in the prior 12 months—often more recently than that. These findings are consistent with national data.

Making the commitment to become a Zero Suicide Champion was the easy part. Now, utilizing the specific strategies and tools available free of charge to practices and providers nationwide through the Zero Suicide framework, Cayuga Health Partners is working to prevent suicides while improving the care for those who seek help.

Cayuga Health Partners is working in collaboration with Ithaca’s Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service in an effort to encourage individual practices and providers to embrace the Zero Suicide Model. In the fall of 2018, we launched a series of Lunch & Learn events featuring presentations about the model by SPCS Executive Director Lee-Ellen Marvin. To date, more than 60 percent of the primary care practices in the network have opened their doors to the presentations and discussions about the role they can play in suicide prevention. Members of Cayuga Health Partners have also played a role in supporting our partner organization, Cayuga Medical Center, in its own implementation of the Zero Suicide Model.

Cayuga Health Partners (formerly called Cayuga Area Plan/Preferred) is a partnership of the Cayuga Area Physicians Alliance (CAPA) and Cayuga Medical Center. Our network mission is to unify member organizations in the pursuit of high quality, accessible, and cost-effective healthcare for the population of patients we serve. In efforts to accomplish this, Cayuga Health Partners is a physician-led, physician-driven effort combining evidence-based best practices and innovative data collection technology in a way that aligns physician incentives and community partnerships to drive improvement in clinical quality.

For more information about the Zero Suicide Model, go to: http://zerosuicide.sprc.org/

—By Emily Mallar

Emily Mallar is the director of Care Management at Cayuga Health Partners

[If you or someone you know feels the need to speak with a mental health professional, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741-741.]