Spotlight On: Alicia Schulhof, President, Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital

Spotlight On: Alicia Schulhof, President, Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital

2022-07-13T10:13:49-04:00April 8th, 2022|Healthcare, Spotlight On, Tampa Bay|

Alicia Schulhof2 min read April 2022 Invest: joined Alicia Schulhof, president of Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, to discuss the vital importance of children’s mental health in these unprecedented times, as well as how the hospital is expanding its services to meet the shifting needs of patients and families. “We are committed to help lead through this crisis but it will truly take a community effort of rallying together to help our kids,” Schulhof said.

What have been your key takeaways from the past year?

I had the privilege to join Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in July 2021. It was important for me to take time to get to know the team, develop relationships and meet people where they are. In my first weeks, I stayed at the hospital, sleeping in different units, so I could experience the environment like any family would. It gave me a chance to spend time getting to know our team, particularly our night shift and weekend teams, who are wonderfully dedicated and passionate. 

How is the healthcare industry responding to concerns around mental health that have emerged since the pandemic for both the workforce and patients?

Mental health services are a much-needed service in our community; we have grown these services significantly over the past few years. In October 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association convened to declare a national emergency in children’s mental health. Over this time, the hospital has grown  from three psychologists and two psychiatrists to 15 psychologists and three psychiatrists, in addition to social work staff and 13 trainees in these services.

Seventy-five percent of mental health diagnoses are made before the age of 17. Even before the pandemic, we were in a mental health epidemic, with one in five kids having mental health diagnoses, who often wait 10 years for proper treatment. Since the pandemic, that has risen to one in three kids needing support. Suicide is the leading cause of death among adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17. Florida ranks among the bottom of all states for having access to mental health services. In addition, referrals and behavioral health services have increased 30% since the pandemic.

Education surrounding mental health in children is critical. We believe that is one of the most important roles we can serve as a healthcare organization, to be a convener of those groups, and provide the venue for education. Other critical elements include laser focus on improving access and expanding care. We are committed to help lead through this crisis but it will truly take a community effort of rallying together to help our kids.  

What can be done to make healthcare more accessible and affordable for the broader community?

We’ve kicked off our 10-year strategic planning process with key emphasis on providing value while delivering high-quality care. Another aspect of this plan is to create healthy and thriving communities, which affect and influence a wide range of health and quality of life risks and outcomes. We are focused on preventative programs. One such initiative we have launched is called Eat to Thrive, which allows our practitioners to identify food insecurity in patients with specific chronic diseases, and for our providers to prescribe a nutrition plan for them. The patient and family won’t just be handed food, they will learn how to shop and prepare foods based on the specific chronic disease they are managing.

We are addressing health disparities in communities, including improving birth outcomes. We have a program called Aunt Bertha, which is a network connecting social services and organizations that was selected by community experts to connect patients with social care. This will help establish and support Black health equity, which by extension helps us further identify more diverse social determinants of health. Another significant  area of focus is childhood exercise, nutrition and weight management. Our team has helped 3,600 families receive 2.4 million meals, with an estimated economic impact of over $11 million. We have also obtained ongoing funding for local high-school food pantries and hospital-based food relief programs. 

What strategies have been implemented by the hospital to recruit and retain talent?

Our current workforce climate is complicated.  Hospitals need to recruit and retain the best talent in every industry imaginable, from food and beverage services to engineering and data science, in addition to our more traditionally thought of frontline healthcare team members. Our top priority is the care of our team. Team members are feeling a high level of burnout and stress and it’s taken a unique toll on them. We offer many resources for well-being and encourage staff to take time and take care of themselves. We have a plethora of educational opportunities, whether it’s utilizing online resources and hosting educational group sessions. We continue to work with our teams to address challenges that are acutely felt across all industries across the Nation. Our leadership team is also working on new approaches to emphasize recruitment and retention. I believe we have the best and brightest people in all of healthcare at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and it is important that we, together, continue to find new and novel ways through and out of the pandemic to best able our team members to best care for our patients, live our mission and maximize their potential.   

How do you envision the future of healthcare?

Our mission and work is dedicated to treatment, advocacy, research and education. Innovation will drive all  dimensions of our work. Sometimes innovation may look like our pediatric biorepository. With storage capabilities for 3 million tubes, it assists researchers and doctors worldwide with processing, cryopreserving and storing blood tissue and other specimens for archival and hypothesis-driven research. Our biobank holds a well of medical knowledge and specimens, promoting sample networks and enhancing research collaborations. Innovation also exists in how we re-engineer and redesign our healthcare delivery models, how our ambulatory setting is designed and how patients can access us using their phone and how AI might best anticipate their needs. Innovation is woven into the fabric of who we are today and who we will be in the future.  

We have recently joined with over 40 pediatric practices (150 providers) to form a pediatric clinically integrated network (CIN). This expanding partnership of community pediatricians and JHACH physicians allows us to extend our mission beyond our walls and into our communities.  The alignment of community pediatricians with JHACH specialists enhances the patient family experience through improved communication and transitions of care ultimately leading to better patient outcomes.

For more information, visit:

https://www.hopkinsallchildrens.org/ 

Share This Story!