Just under five years ago, at the height of the pandemic, I joined Hazel Health with a singular purpose – to harness my two decades of experience working within the education system to bring high quality health care to children across the country. As a teacher, a school administrator, assistant superintendent, and parent, I’ve consistently seen how powerful it can be to stitch together the three most important pillars in our children’s lives: their school, their health, and their family.
At Hazel, I’m incredibly proud of the work that we’ve done to bring care to hundreds of thousands of children across the country – from my home town of Miami to the islands of Hawai’i, Hazel has brought therapy for children with anxiety, depression, and other mental health needs, as well as physical health services, directly to where children spend the majority of their time, their local public school.
But we’re just scratching the surface.
Every day as I speak with local school leaders, district and state administrators, and parents across the country, I’m asked if Hazel can provide a broader array of services, ranging from care for parents, siblings and other caregivers, to support for school staff and teachers. I’m also asked for Hazel to provide psychiatry services and specialty programs focused on topics such as ADHD and autism. Our health insurance partners have also asked to connect their members directly to Hazel, creating a seamless bridge between home, school, and healthcare.
To directly meet this demand, I’m incredibly excited to announce that Hazel has merged with Little Otter, a leader in pediatric mental health care. Little Otter was founded by an incredible team, whose personal story of navigating access to care reflects what so many families experience today. From my first conversation with Little Otter, it was clear that our organizations share a common purpose, and that together our great organizations can stitch together a fragmented healthcare system, meeting the needs of children and families across the country, from school to home. These provider groups under one entity and leadership team, brings an unrivaled continuum of care to the pediatric population throughout the nation.
Hazel brings the reach and trust of school-centered care, with Little Otter bringing family-centered clinical depth. Together, we are building a connected system that supports children from their classrooms to their kitchen tables—linking school-centered services with family care in a way that adds no new systems for schools and no extra burden for parents. Little Otter’s expertise in psychiatry, caregiver support, and specialty programs complements Hazel’s existing, clinically validated clinical care model in deep partnerships with districts, allowing us to reach more children, serve more schools, and deliver care that addresses the full spectrum of family needs.
We want to assure our school partners that nothing will change in the care your students receive. Hazel will continue to deliver the same high-quality, evidence-based services that families and educators rely on. The trusted clinicians who currently serve your students will remain in place, and all existing partnerships, privacy safeguards, and service agreements will continue without interruption. Our merger with Little Otter strengthens, rather than alters, our shared commitment to providing timely, effective, and compassionate care to every child who walks through your doors.
Over the coming months, I am so excited to begin to infuse the clinical capabilities of Little Otter’s care model throughout Hazel’s offerings. Please join me in welcoming Little Otter to the Hazel family! More very soon.
