Our Team

Michael Hoge, Ph.D. is Professor Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and the Director of Yale Behavioral Health. For four decades at Yale, he has been developing and managing comprehensive systems of behavioral health care and a broad range of clinical, rehabilitative, educational, vocational, outreach, and recovery-oriented services for children, adolescents and adults. Simultaneously, he has worked to develop and evaluate innovative services, including alternatives to hospitalization, crisis response systems, programs for the homeless, and therapeutic schools. Dr. Hoge, a clinical psychologist, is a nationally recognized expert on behavioral health workforce development. He is a founding member and the Senior Science and Policy Advisor of The Annapolis Coalition on the Behavioral Health Workforce. He is the senior editor or author of three major works by the Coalition: the SAMHSA-funded national Action Plan on Behavioral Health Workforce Development; the Alaskan Core Competencies for Direct Care Workers in Health and Human Services; and the SAMHSA and HRSA-funded Core Competencies for Integrated Behavioral Health and Primary Care. Over the past five years he has developed the Coalition’s intensive Recruitment and Retention Learning Collaboratives in Behavioral health and launched these collaboratives across the nation. Michael has presented and published widely on behavioral health services and workforce development. He has consulted to the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health and to numerous federal and state agencies, foundations, and provider organizations. He has been a member of two National Academy of Medicine (IOM) Committees that addressed workforce issues and Chaired the Behavioral Health Professional and Technical Advisory Committee of The Joint Commission.

Mr. Migdole is the Chief Operating Officer of Yale Behavioral Health and the Yale Program on Supervision and holds an appointment as Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry of the Yale School of Medicine. Within his Yale role, he (1) serves as the Lead of the Yale Monitoring Team designed to address concerns as defined by regulatory, accrediting, and/or oversight bodies, (2) directs for Yale its juvenile justice mental health services statewide in Connecticut, which includes pre and post adjudicated youth in detention centers and residential facilities. (3) directs outpatient mental health and substance abuse services, (4) manages a comprehensive telephonic/mobile crisis service, and (5) provides clinical consultation to Yale’s private therapeutic junior and senior high school which serves grades 6-12. As a turnaround specialist, Mr. Migdole has extensive experience in consulting/managing agencies under Consent Order including serving as interim CEO for a 155-bed addiction treatment center. He also provides organizational consultation, including to both child and adult psychiatric facilities, regarding standards of care and supervision. He is a highly sought-after expert in adult and adolescent behavioral health, providing due diligence consultation and serving as an expert witness in hospital and juvenile justice malpractice cases. Mr. Migdole is a dynamic speaker and is the principal trainer for the Yale Program on Supervision. Mr. Migdole was the lead trainer and organizational consultant in a statewide Supervision Competency Development Initiative that was federally funded through Connecticut’s Mental Health Transformation State Incentive Grant (T-SIG). He has consulted on supervision to numerous Connecticut state agencies including the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Department of Corrections, Department of Children and Families, Connecticut Valley Hospital, as well as the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD), San Francisco Department of Public Health (behavioral health division for children and adults), the Children’s Behavioral Health Knowledge Center and MassHealth, and the District of Columbia’s Department of Mental Health and Canada. Mr. Migdole has focused extensively on behavioral health workforce development, building provider competencies on treatment planning, stages of change, adherence to standards of care, the delivery of Assertive Community Treatment, and CMS compliance. His national work around stages of change has helped addiction providers engage individuals who have been historically on the outskirts of the treatment system, including those who regularly use more intensive treatments, such as emergency psychiatric services and inpatient hospitalization. He has also consulted statewide with the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services around co-occurring disorders. He served on the editorial board of the journal Clinical Supervisor, has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, and has provided extensive training and organizational consultation across the nation.

Barbara Bugella, RN, MSN, MBA holds the position of Senior Consultant with Yale Behavioral Health Consulting Services. In this capacity, her primary focus is assisting psychiatric hospitals and behavioral health organizations across the United States in attaining and upholding Joint Commission accreditation as well as CMS compliance. Her consulting experience includes training programs, mentoring, organizational assessments, conducting simulated surveys, and offering technical assistance pertaining to Joint Commission, CMS standards and survey process, restraint and seclusion reduction, utilization management, and policy development. With an impressive career spanning over 35 years, Ms. Bugella has a wealth of experience within both the public and private sectors of Behavioral Healthcare. Her most recent role as Chief Operating Officer of a State Mental Health and Addiction Services Agency entailed overseeing the operations of six state-operated Local Mental Health Authorities and a large psychiatric hospital totaling over 600 inpatient beds. These facilities also provided services such as withdrawal management, residential care, Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams, Mobile Crisis response, Community Support, and outpatient services. Additionally, she was a founding member of an interagency partnership to reduce the use of restraint and seclusion in healthcare, correctional and school settings. Ms Bugella has been instrumental in assisting start up organizations or those who have acquired new programs to design workflows, develop and implement policies, train staff, and achieve accreditation and/or licensure in multiple states. She possesses extensive expertise in program design, project management, and leadership development. Her regulatory acumen encompasses the management of a Department of Justice Settlement agreement, readiness for The Joint Commission, CMS regulatory compliance, and state licensing requirements. She has also authored a number of peer-reviewed publications, including a focus on restraint and seclusion, school shootings, and the importance of workforce transformation in Connecticut.

Lesa has over forty years of clinical, administrative, operational and consulting experience in healthcare. As a senior corporate trainer and in house consultant for a national hospital system, Lesa was responsible for the development and implementation of clinical programs and oversaw regulatory compliance and accreditation preparation for the behavioral health professional and clinical services divisions. As a former Executive Senior Vice President of one of the largest managed care companies, Lesa oversaw multiple Commercial, Medicaid and Medicare management care implementations and took that knowledge and expertise to emerging public sector Prepaid Inpatient Health Plans (PIHP), Insurers, Managed Care Companies and state and federal government agencies. Lesa has provided consultation services to more than 37 state, regional and local jurisdiction authorities. Services have focused on system transformation issues and have included readiness reviews for operational areas, technical training on key functions of utilization management, crisis, central access, prior authorization, post payment review, network management, quality management, compliance and program integrity. Always operational in focus, Lesa has expertise in building partnerships that ensure consumer access and availability in state-wide systems. Lesa is also a widely recognized published expert on standards development and accreditation assessment and survey preparation. She has provided consulting services to more than 380 hospital systems, insurance and managed care companies and private and public agencies securing successful accreditation by NCQA, URAC, CARF, COA and TJC. Lesa is a former member of The Joint Commission Professional Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC), former member of the CARF Board of Directors and has participated on the NCQA and URAC advisory committees for behavioral health standards development. Lesa holds Doctorate degrees in Clinical Psychology and Jurisprudence with a specialty in Medical Ethics.

Dr. Amble completed his residency training at the Yale Department of Psychiatry in 1992 and is Board Certified in Psychiatry and Forensic Psychiatry. During his career he has worked collaboratively with colleagues to formulate best practices and manage individuals who presented significant risk toward themselves and the community. As a member of the Yale faculty and teacher/educator for many years, he has been qualified as an expert in state and federal courts and has been involved in the clinical oversight of high-risk patients throughout his career. Dr. Amble is an expert in managing individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism, overseeing the prescribing of psychopharmacology and assisting to reduce the patient exposure to medication through managing individuals within the clinical behavioral team. Dr. Amble has been involved in the monitoring panel over class action lawsuits, overseen the provision of psychiatric services through state contracts, and has been engaged by state and private agencies to provide consultation services for complex clinical matters.

Domenic Baratta, MPH, CSP, HEM, CHSP is a consultant with Yale Behavioral Health Consulting Services. In this capacity, he provides Joint Commission and CMS related consultation to clients nationwide. His expertise is in the areas of Life Safety Code compliance as well as Joint Commission and CMS standards for the Environment of Care and Emergency Management. Mr. Baratta has assisted organizations in the development of their Evidence of Standards Compliance, Statement of Conditions, and CMS Plan of Corrections including those for Condition Level and Immediate Jeopardy citations, and implementing processes to ensure sustainable programs for compliance. Mr. Baratta is an accomplished healthcare executive with 9 years experience in healthcare operations, operational management, regulatory compliance, and performance improvement. In addition to his consulting experience, Mr. Baratta currently serves as the System Director for the Environmental Health & Safety Department for the Montefiore Health System in New York. He oversees all aspects of the Environment of Care, Life Safety, Hazardous Waste, Construction Safety, Employee Safety, and Emergency Management. Mr. Baratta received his Master of Public Health from New York Medical College and holds the following credentials: Certified Safety Professional, Associate Safety Professional, Certified Healthcare Safety Professional, Certified Fire Inspector, Certified Healthcare Emergency Professional, Healthcare Environmental Manager, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration 501, 510, and 511. His memberships include Healthcare Facility Management Society, International Association of Emergency Managers, Board of Certified Safety Professionals, and the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Jacqueline Smith (Gacek) RN MS CPHQ LNC is a regulatory and accreditation consultant with Yale Behavioral Health Consulting Services. In that role, she works with hospitals and healthcare programs nationwide to support them in achieving and maintaining accreditation and CMS compliance and provides technical assistance on standards and the survey process. Additionally, she conducts training, gap analysis, and mock surveys. She is experienced in developing and monitoring action plans to remedy regulatory and accreditation non-compliance. Ms. Smith has more than 30 years of healthcare management experience and has been consulting since 2013. She most recently served as Chief Operations Officer for a two-hospital system providing inpatient, outpatient, partial hospitalization and telehealth services. Prior experience includes Director of Quality & Risk Management, with responsibility for regulatory compliance, health information management, utilization management, risk management, outcomes measurement, and performance improvement. Ms. Smith has also held a variety of leadership positions in managed care including Operations Administrator, Director of Government Programs, and Director of Resource Management. Her experience also includes technology implementation assistance in the healthcare setting. Ms. Smith is a registered professional nurse with a master’s degree in health systems administration from Rochester Institute of Technology. She earned certifications in Health Care Quality, Human Resources, Quality and Legal Nurse Consulting.