• Georgia: According to a new CDC survey, teen mental health has seen slight improvements since the pandemic. In 2021, 57% of teenage girls reported feeling persistent sadness, the highest rate in 10 years. However, in the latest Youth Risk Behavior Survey, conducted in 2023, this rate declined to 53%. Among teenage boys, 28% said they felt persistent sadness in 2023, like the rate in 2021. Another area of improvement was suicide risk among Black students. In 2021, Black students reported higher increases in suicide attempts, but there were significantly fewer attempts in 2023. According to Corinne Catarozoli, a clinical psychologist at Weill Cornell Medicine, these improvements over the last few years may be partly due to an increased focus on helping teenagers access mental health services earlier. "This data we're seeing today is promising and shows that we're on the right track," Catarozoli said. However, she noted that "there is still a long way to go in terms of access and in terms of insurance coverage." (Ghorayshi, New York Times, 8/6)
• New York: The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) has agreed to let Mount Sinai Beth Israel close, a decision that could reduce access to emergency medical care for many people living in downtown Manhattan. According to the New York Times, Mount Sinai first announced plans to close Beth Israel in 2016, but it was kept opened by community activists who filed lawsuits against its closure, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past year, Mount Sinai has renewed its push to close Beth Israel, claiming that it was losing so much money that it would threaten the entire hospital system. In July, NYSDOH approved Mount Sinai's plan to close the hospital, but included several conditions. Beth Israel has been ordered to fund an expansion of the ED at Bellevue, the city's public hospital system, and it must run a 24/7 urgent care center for three months. The conditions are meant to ensure that nearby hospitals are not overwhelmed by patients after Beth Israel closes. (Goldstein, New York Times, 7/26)
• Ohio: Cleveland Clinic has named Ben Shahshahani as its' first chief artificial intelligence (AI) officer. Since 2021, Shahshahshani has served as SVP of science, machine learning, and product analytics for SiriusXM and Pandora. Before that, he had leadership positions with Verizon Media, Yahoo, Google, Nuance, and IBM. "Cleveland Clinic sees great promise for artificial intelligence in healthcare, as it has the ability to improve care for patients and streamline work for caregivers," said Rohit Chandra, the organization's chief digital officer. "However, we need to be thoughtful about how we implement it. Ben has a track record of effectively and strategically applying new technologies to create beneficial change for organizations." According to Modern Healthcare, more healthcare organizations are adding AI positions to their leadership teams as the technology's use in the healthcare industry continues to grow. Other organizations with AI leadership roles include Elevance Health and VCU Health. (DeSilva, Modern Healthcare, 7/29)

To correct for foundational flaws baked into our behavioral healthcare system, we need structural change. But what does that really mean? We've identified three non-negotiable steps we need to collectively take in order to improve behavioral healthcare.