Salim Okonkwo carries the behavioral health panel and is the named owner of CCH-003. He came to the practice in 2021 from a community mental-health clinic in the Bronx that ran on the University of Washington AIMS Center Collaborative Care Model; the practice's BH intake workflow is a direct port of his Bronx workflow with adaptations for the lower volume here.
His clinical interests are: medication-led care for the common mood and anxiety presentations seen in primary care; brief CBT and ACT for situational and uncomplicated cases (we do not run a long-term therapy panel — see CCH-003 § Adverse effects); MOUD; and the discipline of continuing to use validated symptom measures at every visit even when they have come to feel routine.
He runs the Wednesday afternoon brief-therapy list. He carries the BH pager Monday through Friday evenings; Otis Thackeray covers when Salim is on vacation. He is the named co-author of the practice's controlled-substance policy.
Credentials
- Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Stony Brook University (2011)
- Master of Science, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner track, Yale School of Nursing (2017) — nursing.yale.edu
- PMHNP board certification, ANCC — nursingworld.org
- SAMHSA-recognized for buprenorphine prescribing — samhsa.gov
- NPI 1234567893
Authoring responsibilities
Salim Okonkwo, PMHNP-BC is named in the Authors field of the following monographs and is responsible for keeping them current.
- CCH-003 Behavioral health — owner
Outside the room
Plays bass in a low-amplitude post-hardcore band that practices in a basement studio in Tivoli on alternate Sundays.
Verification & references
- NPI lookup — npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov.
- NY medical license verification — NYSED Office of the Professions.
- NY Office of Professional Medical Conduct — health.ny.gov.
- CMS Open Payments — industry payment lookup — openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
- ABFM diplomate verification — theabfm.org.
- ANCC certification verification — nursingworld.org.