Episodes

Originally broadcast June 28, 2024

Five times during the COVID pandemic Dr. Anthony Fauci took time out of his incredibly busy schedule to share with “Conservations on Health Care” his latest insights. Now, he returns to reflect not only on COVID but also on the entire scope of his career, including his efforts to bring attention and resources to the AIDS fight in the 1980s.
 
Dr. Fauci explains he had to speak truth to power during the pandemic in order “to preserve…professional integrity and to fulfill my responsibility to the American public.” He continues to focus on sharing “just the facts.” In terms of the current COVID situation, he says the virus persists and “has an uncanny capability of continuing to evolve…there’s a new variant now…that evades some of the protection from vaccines and prior infection.”
 
Dr. Fauci’s New York Times best-selling autobiography, “On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service,” takes readers through his life from growing up in Brooklyn to advising seven presidents through some of the world’s most harrowing health crises.
 
Join hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter for this important conversation with the most renowned and acclaimed physician and public health leader of our era, Dr. Fauci.

Originally broadcast June 20, 2024

Is the way we’re going about suicide prevention all wrong? And how are those misperceptions affecting efforts to stop veteran suicides? Clinical psychologist Craig Bryan is an Iraq War veteran and studies the issue.

He’s the author of “Rethinking Suicide: Why Prevention Fails, and How We Can Do Better” and says we need a better focus on firearm safety. In 2021, 72% of veteran suicides involved firearms.

The veteran suicide rate is currently 1.5 times the rate of the general population and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says its top clinical priority is preventing suicide among all those who have served.

Originally broadcast June 13, 2024

More than 50,000 Americans died by suicide in 2023, the highest number on record. Data from 2021 found that over 12 million American adults thought about suicide and 1.7 million attempted it.

American Psychiatric Association President Dr. Petros Levounis, who’s finishing his term, is at the center of efforts to prevent suicides. His focus continues to be on substance use addictions. He and the 38,000 APA members have launched a campaign called “Confronting Addiction: From Prevention to Recovery.”

Dr. Levounis also talked about vaping, opioids, alcohol and the rapidly growing addiction to tech.

Join hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter for this encore presentation of the interview with Dr. Levounis.

Originally broadcast June 5, 2024

What if we say there’s a way to have healthier pregnancies, improve children’s health and create better economic outcomes? And it all begins with a knock on the door? That’s the way Nurse-Family Partnership works. It’s an evidence-based, community health program with 45 years of research showing significant improvements in the health and lives of first-time moms and their children affected by social and economic inequality.

The initiative succeeds by having specially educated nurses regularly visit first-time moms, starting early in the pregnancy and continuing until the child’s second birthday. Research consistently proves that the partnership between a nurse and the mom is a winning combination that makes a measurable, long-term difference for the whole family.

Nurse-Family Partnership’s Sharon Sprinkle, co-director of nursing practice, and Jenny Harper, government affairs director, join hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter to discuss its founding, funding and how expectant moms sign up.

Originally broadcast May 29, 2024

You know about the Army and Navy, but have you heard about the USPHS Commissioned Corps?

It is one of the nation’s uniformed services — a branch committed to the service of health. Its over 6,000 officers advance the nation’s public health, serving in agencies across the government, as physicians, nurses, dentists, veterinarians, scientists, engineers and other professionals.

President of the Public Health Service Commissioned Officers Foundation Gene Migliaccio spoke to “Conversations on Health Care” hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter about the role the Corps played in combatting the pandemic.

The fight against COVID-19 was the largest deployment in the 223-year history of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. At the beginning of the pandemic, “I think what we did right was the mobilization,” Migliaccio said.

“When Covid hit, we didn’t have testing centers. It started slowly, and then all of the sudden there were hundreds of them. It took a tremendous amount of effort and some of the best and brightest minds within the Department of Health and Human Services” to accomplish that, he said.

The Public Health Service Commissioned Officers Foundation is part of a new documentary titled “Invisible Corps,” narrated by the actress Ali McGraw. The piece is trying to raise awareness about the Corps and also how public health has become politicized.

Originally broadcast May 22, 2024

This week we’ve brought together some of the brightest minds who run many of the best and most innovative community health centers across the country. From Long Island to San Francisco, community health centers served over 31 million patients last year. How are they keeping pace with their success while always working to improve the quality of the care?

The guests are part of the Community Health Best Practices network and serve as CEOs of their nonprofits:

• Gloria Amador from Salud Integral en la Montaña in Puerto Rico;
• Eddie Chan with North East Medical Services in San Francisco;
• Nieves Gomez with Columbia Basin Health Association in Connell, Washington;
• Ann Kauffman Nolon with Sun River Health in New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley; and
• Greg Wilmot with East Boston Neighborhood Health Center.

“Conversations on Health Care” co-hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter explore how they navigated the COVID pandemic, deal with employee engagement and tackle funding challenges.