NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem Expands Hours at Its New Adult Sickle Cell Clinic
Opened earlier this year, the new clinic is now open on Mondays and Fridays from 8am to 4pm
NYC Health + Hospitals is one of the largest providers of sickle cell care in the country
Harlem Hospital's clinic is built into primary care, so adults with sickle cell disease get their sickle cell care, preventive care, and chronic-disease care from one team in one place
Services include daily medication to reduce the risk of severe symptoms, pain management, care navigation, and reproductive counseling
Sep 16, 2026
As part of Sickle Cell Awareness Month, NYC Health + Hospitals today announced that the new Adult Sickle Cell Clinic at NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem, a program housed within the hospital’s Adult Primary Care service that serves as a primary care medical home for adults living with sickle cell disease, now offers extended hours. The clinic, which launched in January, is now open on Mondays and Fridays from 8am to 4pm. Sickle cell disease is a genetic disorder and complex chronic disease that causes anemia, pain, organ damage, and early death. It predominantly affects people of color, specifically those with ancestry in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sickle cell disease affects about 100,000 people in the US and about 10,000 in New York State. A common feature of sickle cell disease is unpredictable episodes of severe, debilitating pain, known as vaso-occlusive pain crises. Patients with pain crises often go to the Emergency Room for treatment. However, by providing access to robust, comprehensive, and preventive sickle cell disease care, healthcare systems can reduce the frequency and severity of these painful episodes, and can help patients to stay healthy and engaged in their lives.
NYC Health + Hospitals is one of the largest providers of sickle cell care in the country, with seven sickle cell clinics for pediatric patients and three sickle cell clinics for adults. Services include preventive medications, such as hydroxyurea, to reduce the risk of severe symptoms; preventive screening tests; pain management; and care navigation; At Harlem Hospital, these services are delivered alongside routine primary and preventive care by the same primary care physician, so patients do not have to navigate a separate clinic for their everyday health needs.The clinics also include a social worker and a community health worker to help patients address mental health needs such as depression and anxiety, as well as the social determinants of health such as food insecurity or housing instability.
“NYC Health + Hospitals is committed to health equity and comprehensive care,” said Nichola Davis, MD, MS, Chief Population Health Officer at NYC Health + Hospitals. “The new Adult Sickle Cell Clinic at Harlem Hospital is an example of this mission in action. By leveraging in-house sickle cell disease expertise and promoting cross-facility collaboration, we are prioritizing the care of a patient population that is often neglected in healthcare.”
“The expansion of the Sickle Cell services at NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem is another major victory for the Harlem community,” said NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem Chief Executive Officer Georges H. Leconte, MPA, FAB. “Patients affected by sickle cell disease can now leverage access to consistent, coordinated and culturally-competent care to better manage their health, reduce preventable complications, and ensure they receive the exceptional clinical expertise they deserve. The initiative reflects our unwavering dedication to advancing health equity and improving health outcomes for patients and families impacted by sickle cell disease.”
“Adults living with sickle cell disease deserve what every other adult expects from primary care: a medical home, with a doctor of their own who manages their sickle cell disease together with their overall health, and a team that handles the pain, the paperwork, and the follow-up as one,” said Yong Eun, MD, Attending Physician, Adult Primary Care, and Clinical Lead, Sickle Cell Disease Primary Care Program, NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem. “That is what we built at Harlem Hospital, and the extended hours are a direct response to what our patients told us they needed.”
The following hospitals have specialized adult care for sickle cell disease:
- NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem
- NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County
- NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens
The following hospitals provide specialized pediatric care for sickle cell disease:
- NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem
- NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi
- NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County
- NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln
- NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan
- NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx
- NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens
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About NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem
NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem is a 268-bed hospital that provides a broad array of preventive, primary and acute care services including general medicine and medical subspecialties, general surgery and surgical subspecialties, infectious diseases, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and neonatology, critical care, imaging, radiology and nuclear medicine, rehabilitation medicine, psychiatry and substance abuse services, dental and oral surgery, physical, speech and occupational therapies. They are an Area-Wide Burn Center and Level II Trauma, with Centers of Excellence for Bariatric Surgery, Breast Imaging and Sexual Assault Forensics, a designated Stroke and AIDS Center, a World Health Organization’s UNICEF Designated Baby Friendly. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org/harlem.
About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest municipal health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city’s five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlusHealth —all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 46,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.