Bridgeport Hospital’s REACH IOP program was honored as one of two finalists for the Association of Ambulatory Behavioral Health’s (AABH) 2026 Program of the Year at the AABH annual conference in Las Vegas in May 2026.
Brian Zaboski, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry and creator of the Mood Disorders Treatment Program at REACH; Fatima Motiwala, MD, medical director at REACH; and Kathy Pontes, director of psychiatry at Bridgeport Hospital, attended the conference and accepted the award for all REACH IOP staff.
Jennifer Naughton, clinical manager at REACH, said the REACH IOP has been in an "era of innovation," fueled by Zaboski’s collaboration with Christopher Pittenger, MD, PhD, Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Psychiatry. This collaboration started with the creation of the intensive OCD treatment program that was named AABH Program of the Year in 2024.
Yale New Haven Hospital’s IOP won the award in 2025, making Yale New Haven Health a winner or finalist for three consecutive years.
The REACH Program offers an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), which includes medication management and outpatient group therapy for both adults and youth. The IOPs provide group-based treatment programs for those in need of intensive therapeutic services following psychiatric hospitalization or to prevent hospitalization.