AHA Stat Blog

By integrating behavioral health into physical care and tapping into community partnerships, hospitals and health systems can develop culturally competent clinical solutions to better serve historically underrepresented individuals, writes Manish Sapra, M.D., executive director of the behavioral health service line at New York-based Northwell Health. Read more in this blog, and find more resources on AHA’s Minority Mental Health Awareness Month page.

The widespread belief that we have completely turned the corner in our fight against COVID-19 does not apply equally to all parts of the country. In many states and communities, the rate of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are moving in the wrong direction.  

On this episode, I have an important conversation with Robert Trestman, M.D., chair for psychiatry and behavioral medicine at Carilion Clinic and a professor at the Viriginia Tech/Carilion School of Medicine in Roanoke, Va.

COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on Black, Latino, Native Americans and other communities of color is well-documented and deeply troubling. It’s also the latest in a long history of health inequities and health disparities affecting racial minorities in our society. 

UnitedHealth Group announced a jaw-dropping $6 billion in earnings in a single quarter. But not enough has been said about a big contributor to these profits: not paying for health care services.

The AHA Leadership Summit – one of AHA’s flagship events – will be held virtually July 28-29. AHA Executive Vice President Michelle Hood previews the conference, designed to help health care executives and trustees lead organizational transformation. Read more.

The mission of all hospitals and health systems, regardless of size and type of ownership, is to care for their patients and communities. In fact, an Ernst and Young report from 2019 demonstrates that for every dollar invested in non-profit hospitals and health systems through the federal tax exemption, $11 in benefits is delivered back to communities.

As summer moves along, the U.S. is marking a pivotal point in the pandemic. A majority of Americans — nearly 55% — now have received one COVID-19 vaccine dose, and 48% are fully vaccinated. 

COVID-19 has been a learning experience on many fronts. Every facet of our health care system has been affected by the pandemic — from providers to patients to hospital and health system CEOs — and we will be sorting out lessons learned for some time to come. 

In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, events sparked by the murder of George Floyd increased the constant exposure to stress in communities of color, a detriment to one’s physical and mental health, writes Kimberlydawn Wisdom, M.D., senior vice president of community health and equity and chief wellness and diversity officer at Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System, and chairperson of AHA’s Institute for Diversity and Health Equity Leadership Council. In this blog in conjunction with July as Minority Mental Health Awareness Month read her call to action to making behavioral health accessible to all.

Founding Father John Adams believed that July 2, was the correct date on which to celebrate the birth of American independence, and he reportedly would turn down invitations to appear at July 4 events in protest.

Implementing an anti-human trafficking program may seem daunting during the COVID-19 pandemic, but simple steps can get every hospital started, write Hanni Stoklosa, M.D., founding CEO of HEAL Trafficking and an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and George L. Askew, M.D., chairperson of the HEAL Trafficking Board and deputy chief administrator officer for Health, Human Services, and Education for Prince George’s County in Maryland. Read more.

Let’s also engage U.S. health systems to guide global vaccination efforts on the ground

On this episode, you’ll hear from Kenneth Davis, M.D., president and CEO of Mount Sinai Health System in New York, a system that was on the front lines of the first wave of COVID-19. He is a neurobiologist and a pioneering researcher in the field of brain disease, notably Alzheimer’s disease.

In Bellingham, Wash., the PeaceHealth clinic is using community health workers, or promotoras, to help educate farmworkers in rural communities about the importance of getting the COVID-19 vaccine. 

EmPATH — or Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment and Healing — is designed to guide patients safely through a current crisis while building coping skills that will guide them through future challenges. Though it just opened in March, this unit is moving emergency mental health care in a new and exciting direction.

A history-making event that changed the lives of Black Americans more than 150 years ago is now being recognized as a federal holiday. With the stroke of a pen, President Biden signed a bill establishing June 19 as Juneteenth National Independence Day – commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S..

What qualities make an outstanding leader, whether in health care or another field? Your list may include being collaborative, courageous, empathetic, innovative, inspiring, and intelligent. Based on my experiences and observations during the COVID-19 pandemic, I’d add a couple more: being humble and resilient. 

Individuals and states have tried — three times — to wipe the Affordable Care Act off the books. The Supreme Court — for the third time — rejected those efforts. In a lopsided 7-2 opinion, the Court held that individual plaintiffs and states seeking to strike down the Act lacked “standing,” or the legal right, to bring their suit. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has forever altered the way hospitals and health systems care for patients. Much has been written and said about the pandemic’s devastating effects; there are, however, some silver linings.