Latest / Becker’s Healthcare -- Pediatric Leadership Podcast / Dr. Kevin Simon, Attending Psychiatrist at Boston Children's Hospital & Chief Behavioral Health Officer at Boston Public Health Commission

Transcript

Dr. Kevin Simon, Attending Psychiatrist at Boston Children's Hospital & Chief Behavioral Health Officer at Boston Public Health Commission · Becker’s Healthcare -- Pediatric Leadership Podcast

• 0:03
  It's so important for leaders at the top of organizations to keep learning,
• 0:07
  stay sharp, grow their networks,
• 0:09
  help our audience better do this in a more simplified, personalized,
• 0:12
  and meaningful way. Becker's Healthcare has launched my bhc,
• 0:16
  it's your trusted Becker's healthcare experience and more with content,
• 0:19
  connections, events and learning opportunities.
• 0:22
  Join the community free of charge@www.my dot becker's hospital
• 0:27
  review.com and we'll see you there.
• 0:33
  Welcome everyone to the Becker's Healthcare podcast series.
• 0:36
  I'm Ryan Muhammad with Beck's Healthcare. I'm thrilled to have with me today Dr.
• 0:40
  Kevin Simon from Boston Children's Hospital. Dr.
• 0:44
  It's so nice to talk with you today. How are you?
• 0:47
  I'm doing pretty well. Thank you for having me. How are you?
• 0:50
  Yeah, I'm so good. Thank you so much for asking. Um, to begin,
• 0:54
  would you mind introducing yourself and telling us a bit about your background?
• 0:57
  Yeah, so I'm Dr. Kevin Simon.
• 1:00
  I am a child and adolescent and addiction psychiatrist out of Boston Children's
• 1:05
  Hospital. Uh,
• 1:06
  I also hold the role of Chief Behavioral Health Officer for the city of Boston,
• 1:10
  originally from Brooklyn, New York. Um, but now Boston has been, uh,
• 1:14
  home for the past several years.
• 1:17
  Perfect. Thank you so much. I'm in New York now, so that's very exciting.
• 1:21
  . Um, so the first question that I have for you is,
• 1:25
  what are the biggest issues you're following in healthcare in 2023?
• 1:30
  Yeah, so, um, given my role in,
• 1:32
  in what the society and nation have been, uh, talking about,
• 1:37
  so behavioral and mental health, uh, has been the biggest issues for me. Uh,
• 1:41
  particularly looking at access to mental health services,
• 1:45
  access to substance use services, um,
• 1:48
  and then also how is it that we can kind of increase the number
• 1:53
  of behavioral health professionals given that there seems to be a workforce
• 1:57
  shortage. Uh, so access,
• 2:01
  workforce shortage and then communication efforts has have been another issue
• 2:06
  in that there are communities and persons who need services yet
• 2:11
  currently don't get access to the services. In part,
• 2:14
  sometimes there's a language barrier around, uh,
• 2:17
  the information that is pre presented to them. And so, um, at least in Boston,
• 2:22
  we're trying to think about how it, that we can improve, again, communication,
• 2:27
  access, uh, and then even the workforce.
• 2:31
  Perfect.
• 2:32
  Thank you so much for that insight and for you and everything that you're doing.
• 2:36
  What is making you excited right now?
• 2:38
  And also is there anything that's making you nervous?
• 2:42
  This is a good question. So in terms of, let's start with nervous.
• 2:46
  So nervous I would say is that we have a particularly
• 2:51
  good opportunity here, um, nationally to make a,
• 2:55
  a particular impact on how mental health,
• 2:59
  behavioral health is perceived, um,
• 3:02
  and then also how it is actually provided.
• 3:06
  And I think what makes me nervous is not seizing the opportunity that we're in,
• 3:11
  given that the surgeon, general president, a number of individuals,
• 3:16
  uh,
• 3:16
  have identified and and mental health organizations have identified that we are
• 3:21
  in a state of crisis, particularly on the youth side.
• 3:24
  So I just think knowing that the crisis is present
• 3:29
  and there is federal funding, state funding to um,
• 3:33
  implement new programs and plans, uh, what makes me nervous is,
• 3:37
  is potentially not seizing that opportunity.
• 3:41
  And what makes me excited is just the flip side of that coin,
• 3:44
  which is to say that I think more so now then in the past
• 3:49
  decade, there is a certain amount of energy around the idea of
• 3:55
  improving mental and behavioral health, be that from the societal standpoint,
• 3:59
  so social determinants of health, um, as well as to the clinical bedside.
• 4:04
  I think that a lot of providers, a lot of healthcare organizations,
• 4:08
  institutions have recognized the important of mental and behavioral health.
• 4:12
  And so even my role is new, um, and,
• 4:16
  and there's a new administration within the city of Boston and the
• 4:21
  idea of having somebody who is thinking about mental and behavioral health
• 4:26
  from a public health standpoint,
• 4:29
  just alongside colleagues that think about housing, think about economics,
• 4:32
  think about arts, think about libraries, um,
• 4:36
  to me that that's what's exciting about the time that we're in.
• 4:40
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 4:41
  I completely agree with you on that last statement and everything you said about
• 4:45
  mental health. Um, and before I let you go doctor,
• 4:48
  the last thing I wanted to ask you is what will the most effective healthcare
• 4:52
  leaders need in order to be successful in the next two to three years or so?
• 4:57
  Yeah, so I think in order to be the most effective,
• 5:02
  um,
• 5:03
  leadership at the highest level is gonna have to do what successful leaders have
• 5:07
  always done, which is to say, how is it that we create collaborative teams?
• 5:13
  In part, there will never really ever be one person, um,
• 5:17
  or even one institution to solve all of our problems.
• 5:20
  And so the more dynamic leaders are in terms of
• 5:26
  creating this, um,
• 5:27
  team concept and really bring all voices to the table, um,
• 5:32
  be that from, in my role, having community at the table,
• 5:36
  having persons with lived experience at the table and and recognizing that it
• 5:40
  can't always be a top down, um, to, to solutions.
• 5:45
  I think that that's what will have healthcare executives and
• 5:50
  leaders be particularly successful in that when you have a
• 5:55
  wide array of people and organizations and stakeholders present
• 6:00
  and you let them really feel and know that
• 6:04
  their input is valued, their opinions are valued,
• 6:08
  their experiences are valued,
• 6:10
  I think that's when people really feel as though they're a part of something.
• 6:14
  Um, and so part of a culture that might be shifting.
• 6:17
  So I think those are some of the aspects that, uh,
• 6:20
  would allow for a healthcare leader to be most effective in the next two
• 6:25
  to three years.
• 6:27
  Perfect. Thank you so much for the final thoughts, doctor.
• 6:30
  This has been an amazing discussion.
• 6:32
  So I wanna thank you so much for coming on Becker's Healthcare and I look
• 6:35
  forward to connecting, connecting with you again soon.
• 6:38
  Thank you for who much for having me.