Matthew N. Goldenberg, MD, MSc, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Section Chief for Psychiatric Emergency Services at Yale New Haven Hospital, has been appointed to a state task force that will study the anticipated shortage of psychiatrists in Connecticut.
The Task Force to Study the Projected Shortage in the Psychiatry Workforce in the State was created by the Legislature. The 12-member panel will examine the causes of and potential solutions to avoid or reduce the projected shortage of psychiatrists statewide.
The nationwide shortage of psychiatrists has been well documented. A 2017 report by the National Council for Behavioral Health cited a federal study that projected a deficit of 12 percent in the psychiatry workforce by 2025. The American Psychiatric Association has lobbied for more money and positions for graduate psychiatric training and for loan-forgiveness programs that would encourage psychiatrists and clinicians to practice in underserved areas.
"I am very glad our state legislature has convened a task force to address this important issue,” Goldenberg said. “Demand for psychiatric services outstrips supply of psychiatric treatment resources in our state and nationally.
"Creative solutions are needed not only to train, recruit and retain excellent providers but also to design high quality and efficient systems of patient care," he said. "I am honored to serve on this task force; I hope my academic background in student career choice and public health will be helpful to the committee."
Creative solutions are needed not only to train, recruit and retain excellent providers but also to design high quality and efficient systems of patient care.
Matthew N. Goldenberg, MD, MSc, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Section Chief for Psychiatric Emergency Services at Yale New Haven Hospital
Goldenberg will represent emergency medicine physicians on the panel. Other appointees include a child and adolescent psychiatrist, a psychologist, a person with expertise in workforce shortages and development, a recovery specialist, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, and a primary care provider who consults with psychiatrists.
Goldenberg is Medical Director of the YNHH Psychiatry Observation Unit and is an attending psychiatrist in the YNHH emergency department’s Crisis Intervention Unit.
He is active in medical student education at Yale as Associate Director of the Department of Psychiatry’s clerkship program.