By Felicia Kirschner Press Release: Report on Impact of COVID Finds that Behavioral Health Agencies Saw 77% Increase in Demand While Losing Over $500,000 On Average The Coalition for Behavioral Health calls on the State to provide additional funding to address revenue shortfalls and offers recommendations on how New York can be prepared for future crises To view report titled “Lessons Learned: Challenges and Successes of New York’s Behavioral Health Provider Agencies During the Pandemic”, New York, NY (February 19, 2021)– Today, The Coalition for Behavioral Health (The Coalition), the umbrella advocacy association of New York's behavioral health community, released “Lessons Learned: Challenges and Successes of New York’s Behavioral Health Provider Agencies During the Pandemic,” a report detailing lessons learned by New York’s behavioral health sector during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and offering recommendations on how New York State can be better prepared for future crises. Behavioral health agencies lost an average of $521,000 due to having fewer billable visits during the first months of the pandemic because they couldn’t see many clients in-person, and had to pay for unexpected expenses including PPE and technology upgrades. At the same time, the pandemic sparked a 77 percent increase in demand for behavioral health services.