NNews April 2024

37 April 2024 NJAMHAANews: Please comment on how you build relationships and partner with colleges and universities for the Post-Graduate APN, Residency Outreach and Clinical Internship Programs and how these programs help address the challenges with staff recruitment and retention. RonDeFeo: In the past year, recruitment, retention and partnerships have been big priorities. We created a unique post-graduate APN programwith an APN from Kentucky who is now at CFG. APNs are trained and paid throughout their training and placed in permanent roles at CFG Health Network. They become licensed and earn their hospital credentials. We’ve hired APNs from around the U.S. To date, between 40 and 50 APNs have completed this program. We have agreements with colleges and universities to hire APNs. We are modeling the same approach for social workers to address recruitment and retention challenges. We work with students to develop the pool to integrate into CFG’s open positions, though some work at other organizations. We have a three-way affiliation with CFG, each school and each hospital. Students are supervised by CFG and work at other organizations, such as Inspira. CFG also has agreements with schools to provide outpatient services. We recently began a psychiatry residency program. For example, CFG provides faculty for Inspira’s residency program for Rowan University students. In July 2024, this programwill be in its third year. CFG also provides residency staff for Prime Healthcare, which owns St. Clare’s and St. Mary’s Hospitals. This partnership also includes New York Medical College. It has more than 20 psychiatry residents and will be in its fourth year in July 2024. In addition, CFG is affiliated with Cooper University Health Care’s residency program. Cooper’s residents work at Northbrook Behavioral Health Hospital. NJAMHAANews: What do you see as CFG Health Network’s greatest innovation and your vision for the organization’s future? RonDeFeo: Our greatest innovation has been in telehealth. Jim Verrell, President of CFG, did the first telepsychiatric evaluation 25 years ago at Inspira, which had a different name then. He was instrumental in developing the waiver process, which led to InSight and ARRAY. We need to protect the telehealth flexibilities we have. Telehealth is essential for meeting individuals’ needs permanently. We also need to increase reciprocity of licensed people working in other states without needing licensure in every state. WhenNew Jersey residents move to other states, their New Jersey clinicians should be able to continue serving them. We also need to standardize and streamline the credentialing process with insurance companies. Our goal at CFG is to pursue growth opportunities to ensure we continue to meet the needs of the people we already serve. CFG tends to grow by people reaching out to us, seeking more types of services. We’re evaluating the brick-and-mortar approach to care because having more physical locations is not necessarily the solution if most care is provided through telehealth. We also need to control costs because the rates we’re paid don’t keep pace with the cost of care.