The Institute’s Virna Little Receives the Paul Ramos Memorial Award at the CHCANYS Annual Statewide Conference

Virna Little, PsyD, LCSW-R, SAP, the Institute’s senior vice president of psychosocial services and community affairs, received the Paul Ramos Memorial Award at the Community Health Care Association of New York State’s (CHCANYS) annual conference and clinical forum on October 20, 2014.

Dr. Little is a nationally recognized champion for the integration of primary care and behavioral health services, and has built one of the largest behavioral health departments in a community health center in the country. A long-standing member of CHCANYS, Dr. Little also helped the organization to establish its behavioral health sub-committee, and trains community health center staff throughout the State. She led a well-attended workshop on integrating suicide prevention into primary care at this year’s conference.

The Paul Ramos Memorial Award was established in 2002 and is awarded to healthcare professionals who exemplify Mr. Ramos’ commitment to health care and social improvement. Mr. Ramos was the founder of the Betances Health Center, a community health center on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.