Around the Table: Protecting the Mental Health of Frontline Healthcare Professionals: A Call to Action

Around the Table, a newly created, quarterly series of roundtable discussions, focuses on relevant health equity issues and offers tested, actionable solutions. Featuring Dr. Judith A. Salerno, President of NYAM and Dr. Wayne J. Riley, Board Chair of NYAM, President of SUNY Downstate, with a rotating list of expert guest panelists, each program will define the issue, share information, answer questions and provide action items for the viewer to take.

Our second Around the Table discussion will focus on the mental health of healthcare professionals and the implications they face in seeking help. Guest panelist Corey Feist, Co-Founder of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation and Chief Executive Officer of the University of Virginia Physicians Group, will examine the ways in which we can turn the seeking of mental health services into a sign of strength for healthcare professionals. At a time of increased burnout rates in the industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this program could not be more relevant.

A key feature of the program will be a “What can I do?” segment at the end of the discussion. These action items will also be shared with attendees and the public following the event on NYAM’s whatcanido.nyc website.

About the Speakers

J. Corey Feist, JD, MBA

Corey Feist is a health care executive with over 20 years of experience. Corey is the Co-Founder of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation and currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the University of Virginia Physicians Group, the medical group practice of UVA Health comprised of 1200+ physicians and advanced practice providers. Corey also holds an adjunct faculty appointment at the UVA Darden School of Business where he recently taught a course entitled, “Managing in a Pandemic: The Challenge of COVID-19.″ Corey is also the Chair of the Board of the Charlottesville Free Clinic. Corey holds his Master’s of Business Administration from the UVA Darden School of Business, his Juris Doctorate from Penn State Dickinson School of Law and his bachelor’s degree from Hamilton College.

Wayne J. Riley, MD, MPH, MBA, MACP

Dr. Riley is the 17th president of the Brooklyn-based SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, where he also holds tenured professorships in internal medicine, health policy, and management. Dr. Riley joined the NYAM Board of Trustees in 2017 and was elected Chair in October 2020. Prior to joining SUNY Downstate in 2017, Dr. Riley served as clinical professor of medicine and adjunct professor of Health Policy & Management at the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management and the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Before that, Dr. Riley served from 2007-2013 with distinction as the 10th president and chief executive officer and professor of medicine at the historic Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. An academic, primary care general internist, Dr. Riley has more than 25 years of progressively senior executive level management, policy, and leadership experiences in academic medicine, patient care, research administration, academic health center administration, healthcare management, health policy, biotechnology, the corporate sector, government service, advocacy, and organized medicine.

Judith A. Salerno, MD, MS

Dr. Salerno is President of The New York Academy of Medicine and is leading its strategic vision to advance health equity. A physician executive and one of the nation’s pre-eminent leaders in health and healthcare, Dr. Salerno most recently served as President and CEO of Susan G. Komen ™, the world’s largest breast cancer organization. She also served as the Leonard D. Schaeffer Executive Officer of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, Deputy Director of the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health, and Chief Consultant for Geriatrics and Extended Care for the U.S. Veterans Health Administration. Dr. Salerno is board-certified in internal medicine and holds an MD degree from Harvard Medical School and a Master of Science in Health Policy from the Harvard School of Public Health. She was elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine in 2018.