The newly released third installment of a one-on-one conversation between Tom Insel, MD, behavioral health adviser to Gov. Gavin Newsom, and CHA’s President & CEO Carmela Coyle, focuses on providing patients the right care in the right setting.
“The hope is that we can reduce that pressure on emergency rooms and reduce that pressure on first responders, but we should really take this as an opportunity to rethink what first response looks like,” Dr. Insel says.
In the four-part series, the two health care leaders discuss — in addition to the right setting for care — fundamental impediments to access to care, including lack of capacity, behavioral health care workforce shortages, and hospitals’ role in caring for patients’ physical and behavioral health care needs.
Look for chapter 4 of the video series to be released on Nov. 19.
Our Health California (OHC), a digital advocacy community of more than 1 million Californians, has also released a consumer-focused video and Q&A with Dr. Insel. Supported by CHA, the OHC community has previously engaged in a number of advocacy issues related to improving behavioral health care in California.