NEMG Leadership Message

Dear NEMG Family:

Welcome to summer! I hope you are all doing well.

Thanks to all of you who attended the NEMG Clinician Forum on Thursday, June 8. We had a great turn-out of more than 330 viewers. Throughout the Forum, there was a conscious pivot from just a discussion of key NEMG-related topics to subjects and conversation that are critical to a successful Physician Enterprise. Dr. McGovern’s updates and discussion of Access 365 reflected the efforts to align our entire health system, increase our efficiencies, and raise the bar on our healthcare outcomes. 

Recently, I am finding myself attending more in-person meetings and gatherings. Being able to actually greet and hug folks whom I may not have seen in-person for almost three years has allowed me to witness real joy. I see people recognize one another, hesitate for a moment, then reach out, hug, and say, ‘wow, it is so good to see you’. It is this joy that I believe has been missing in NEMG for too long. We should believe in each other, encourage each other, and express that we all matter and make a difference in the lives of so many. So, I ask that all of you just take a moment and try to think of moments in your lives and healthcare that make you feel proud and happy and hold tight to those feelings.

Speaking of better healthcare outcomes, I would like to commend our improved results in hypertension. Not all of you know this, but as COVID was raging, the percentage of our patients with good blood pressure control decreased. This same pattern was observed nationally and caused speculation that people were less active, perhaps gained weight, and as a result, blood pressure control worsened. Interestingly, our own data do not support this hypothesis. Newer hypotheses, being proposed nationally, suggest that active COVID infections affect certain receptors in our vasculature, making our vessels “stiffer” and increasing blood pressure. While we don’t know in fact whether this is the cause of worsening blood pressure control, it is though tremendous efforts in our system’s population health teams and the work of Dr. Alon Ronen and Judy Petersen-Pickett that we are finally observing a real turnaround with better blood pressure control in our hypertensive populations. 

I would also like to make mention of the great efforts being made in student education. Coincident with the lifting of the Health Care Emergency, medical students, PA students, and APRN/DNP students from Yale University, Sacred Heart University, Quinnipiac University, as well as others, are all seeking to return to ambulatory offices through the need for in-office preceptorships.  Previously, many of these students were left to individually seek out positions that provided high quality learning experiences. Jennifer Rockfeld, Medical Director, Educational Development, Matthew Matera (NEMG Education Coordinator) and Debra Hardwicke have been doing near-heroic work to make this process much more coherent and easier for both students and NEMG clinicians willing to serve as preceptors. But to make this work, we need students or clinicians directly approached by a student or school seeking a preceptorship to email Matt Matera.

I am proud to announce that one of our NEMG Senior Clinical Preceptors, Richard Breier, MD, was recently awarded the Yale School of Medicine Annual Developmental Award for Excellence in Teaching Ambulatory Care Internal Medicine to Medical Students for 2023. Dr. Breier has been teaching Yale Primary Care Clerkship students for 15 years and, over the past five years, has taught 35 students in his solo primary care practice. Congratulations to Dr. Breier on this well-deserved recognition. 

The ongoing care and commitment you offer our patients, as well as each other, is truly appreciated. That care needs to extend to your physical and emotional well-being too. I encourage all of you to take part in our voluntary, confidential well-being check-ins which are available to all clinicians and staff. Anyone interested is asked to schedule an appointment.

Other resources designed to help us navigate this challenging time include:

• The Employee and Family Resources program, which offers confidential counseling
• A variety of helpful options can be found at www.achievesolutions.net/ynhhs.

System-wide, several events and activities were held between May 4 and May 13 - ”10 Days of Gratitude” – to honor our more than 30,000 employees and 7,000 medical staff. The celebration included Nurses Week, May 6 – 12, Hospital Week, May 7 – 13, and YNHHS’ Week of Gratitude. And while I wish to thank all for great work in recognizing this important timeframe, I especially wish to thank Denise Morris who planned and organized so much of the efforts around gratitude.

I wish you all a safe and happy summer.  

Sincerely,

Richard Goldstein, MD, PhD, MHCM
Senior Vice President
Yale New Haven Health