April 1, 2021—(BRONX, NY)—Andrea Martinez Kondracke, M.D., a specialist in medical care for people with severe mental illness, has been named director of the new division of psychiatry and medicine in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center. Dr. Kondracke, will oversee and integrate psychiatric consultation services for people admitted to medical and surgical services at Montefiore’s Moses campus, as well as oversee Montefiore’s specialized psychiatric consultation services for transplant surgery and for addiction medicine, also at Moses.

“Under Dr. Kondracke’s leadership, we look forward to building a proactive division that provides robust psychiatric expertise for all of our patients with other medical and surgical conditions,” said Jonathan Alpert, M.D., Ph.D., chair and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Einstein and Montefiore. “Dr. Kondracke has demonstrated leadership and deep experience in breaking down silos, building inter-departmental relationships, and providing compassionate care in the hospital for individuals with mental illness and addiction, and other behavioral challenges. Drawing upon her dual training in medicine and psychiatry, Dr. Kondracke will also rotate on the hospitalist service in the department of medicine. She will be a tremendous asset to Montefiore and Einstein and our patients.” Dr. Alpert is also professor in the Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, and of pediatrics, and the Dorothy and Marty Silverman Chair in Psychiatry at Einstein.

Providing medical care to people with mental illness, addictions, dementia, delirium, or behavioral disorders is challenging in the hospital. The goal of the new division is to provide integrated, proactive and patient-centered care while also supporting healthcare providers who treat patients with mental health challenges.

Jonathan E. Alpert, M.D., Ph.D.Faculty ProfileResearch Profile

“Establishing rapid-response team and early intervention crisis management services will support all of our staff in addressing psychiatric issues that may arise in the hospital,’’ said Dr. Kondracke. “This will improve safety and confidence for staff while ensuring the most appropriate care for our patients. I also hope to help create seamless connections between in-patient and outpatient psychiatric care and to unify our consultation services for all departments throughout Montefiore Health System.”

Prior to her November 2020 appointment, Dr. Kondracke was division chief of medical psychiatry at Bellevue Medical Center, where she directed consultation liaison psychiatry, addictions consultations, and the medical consultation service that served psychiatric patients at Bellevue. She was an integral part in the development of a 28-bed medical psychiatry unit and a psychiatric crisis team management team. She also was associate clinical professor with joint appointments in the departments of internal medicine and psychiatry at New York University.

Dr Kondracke earned a Bachelor of Arts from Boston College and her medical degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She did her internal medicine internship at University of Maryland Medical Center and completed residencies in both internal medicine and psychiatry at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University Medical Center.

Under Dr. Kondracke’s leadership, we look forward to building a proactive division that provides robust psychiatric expertise for all of our patients with other medical and surgical conditions.

Jonathan Alpert, M.D., Ph.D.

At Einstein, Dr. Kondracke expects to serve as an associate professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences and in medicine. "I enjoy teaching and mentoring,” she said, “and I'm looking forward to being involved in medical and healthcare education for our students, residents, nurses, social workers, and psychologists.”