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Welcome everyone to the Becker's
Healthcare podcast series.

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I'm Ryan Muhammad with Beck's Healthcare.
I'm thrilled to have with me today Dr.

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Kevin Simon from Boston
Children's Hospital. Dr.

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It's so nice to talk with
you today. How are you?

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I'm doing pretty well. Thank
you for having me. How are you?

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Yeah, I'm so good. Thank you so
much for asking. Um, to begin,

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would you mind introducing yourself and
telling us a bit about your background?

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Yeah, so I'm Dr. Kevin Simon.

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I am a child and adolescent and addiction
psychiatrist out of Boston Children's

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Hospital. Uh,

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I also hold the role of Chief Behavioral
Health Officer for the city of Boston,

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originally from Brooklyn, New York.
Um, but now Boston has been, uh,

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home for the past several years.

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Perfect. Thank you so much. I'm in
New York now, so that's very exciting.

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<laugh>. Um, so the first
question that I have for you is,

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what are the biggest issues you're
following in healthcare in 2023?

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Yeah, so, um, given my role in,

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in what the society and nation
have been, uh, talking about,

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so behavioral and mental health, uh,
has been the biggest issues for me. Uh,

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particularly looking at access
to mental health services,

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access to substance use services, um,

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and then also how is it that we
can kind of increase the number

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of behavioral health professionals
given that there seems to be a workforce

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shortage. Uh, so access,

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workforce shortage and then communication
efforts has have been another issue

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in that there are communities
and persons who need services yet

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currently don't get access
to the services. In part,

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sometimes there's a
language barrier around, uh,

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the information that is pre presented
to them. And so, um, at least in Boston,

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we're trying to think about how it, that
we can improve, again, communication,

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access, uh, and then even the workforce.

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Perfect.

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Thank you so much for that insight and
for you and everything that you're doing.

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What is making you excited right now?

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And also is there anything
that's making you nervous?

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This is a good question. So in
terms of, let's start with nervous.

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So nervous I would say is
that we have a particularly

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good opportunity here,
um, nationally to make a,

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a particular impact on how mental health,

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behavioral health is perceived, um,

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and then also how it is actually provided.

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And I think what makes me nervous is not
seizing the opportunity that we're in,

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given that the surgeon, general
president, a number of individuals,

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uh,

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have identified and and mental health
organizations have identified that we are

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in a state of crisis,
particularly on the youth side.

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So I just think knowing
that the crisis is present

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and there is federal
funding, state funding to um,

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implement new programs and plans,
uh, what makes me nervous is,

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is potentially not
seizing that opportunity.

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And what makes me excited is
just the flip side of that coin,

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which is to say that I think
more so now then in the past

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decade, there is a certain amount
of energy around the idea of

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improving mental and behavioral health,
be that from the societal standpoint,

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so social determinants of health, um,
as well as to the clinical bedside.

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I think that a lot of providers,
a lot of healthcare organizations,

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institutions have recognized the
important of mental and behavioral health.

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And so even my role is new, um, and,

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and there's a new administration
within the city of Boston and the

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idea of having somebody who is thinking
about mental and behavioral health

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from a public health standpoint,

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just alongside colleagues that think
about housing, think about economics,

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think about arts, think
about libraries, um,

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to me that that's what's exciting
about the time that we're in.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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I completely agree with you on that last
statement and everything you said about

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mental health. Um, and
before I let you go doctor,

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the last thing I wanted to ask you is
what will the most effective healthcare

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leaders need in order to be successful
in the next two to three years or so?

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Yeah, so I think in order
to be the most effective,

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um,

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leadership at the highest level is gonna
have to do what successful leaders have

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always done, which is to say, how is
it that we create collaborative teams?

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In part, there will never
really ever be one person, um,

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or even one institution to
solve all of our problems.

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And so the more dynamic
leaders are in terms of

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creating this, um,

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team concept and really bring
all voices to the table, um,

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be that from, in my role,
having community at the table,

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having persons with lived experience at
the table and and recognizing that it

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can't always be a top
down, um, to, to solutions.

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I think that that's what will
have healthcare executives and

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leaders be particularly
successful in that when you have a

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wide array of people and
organizations and stakeholders present

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and you let them really feel and know that

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their input is valued,
their opinions are valued,

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their experiences are valued,

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I think that's when people really feel
as though they're a part of something.

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Um, and so part of a culture
that might be shifting.

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So I think those are some
of the aspects that, uh,

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would allow for a healthcare leader
to be most effective in the next two

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to three years.

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Perfect. Thank you so much for
the final thoughts, doctor.

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This has been an amazing discussion.

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So I wanna thank you so much for coming
on Becker's Healthcare and I look

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forward to connecting,
connecting with you again soon.

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Thank you for who much for having me.