Leading at the Intersection of Public Policy & Health Care Access: Fellow Douglas Brosnan

Tony Patiño Fellows are united by a commitment to leadership and service. For Douglas Brosnan, MD, JD (UC Law SF ‘03), that commitment has taken shape at the crossroads of policy and health care. Here’s a reflection from Doug on what the Fellowship has meant to his career.

Being a Patiño Fellow provided me with the professional foundation to pursue a career in health care leadership. The Fellowship demonstrates that career development and success is a team sport; and having a talented and supportive team with common values is indispensable. The driving force/vision for my career has always been to find ways of providing health care access to as many people as possible. This heavily influenced my choice of medical specialty, Emergency Medicine – the only specialty to take care of everyone regardless of their station in life. In addition to caring for those in the midst of medical emergencies, emergency departments also support those who fall through the cracks of failed public policy, including those struggling with homelessness, mental health issues, substance use disorders, the disabled, and elderly members of our community without social support.”

“This mission also presents the greatest challenge of my career: how can we reinforce the emergency safety net in the midst of cuts to social programs, reductions in Medicare/ Medicaid, increasing patient co-pays/deductibles (that largely go unpaid), reduced support of health care market exchanges, and rising numbers of uninsured. My hope is that ERs will come to be appreciated as an essential public benefit – like the fire department – and reliable support will be identified so that our mission can be sustained into the future.