Steven Gold is the current CEO of Refresh Mental Health and a 2002 Juris Doctor JD/MPH combination degree graduate. Steven’s MPH concentration was Epidemiology, the same concentration as his mother who graduated from the Yale School of Public Health after completing her undergraduate education at the University of Florida.
What have you been up to in recent years?
I have lived in many states (NJ, NY, PA, FL) and had a variety of legal and business roles since my graduation from UF. I even decided to pursue a second Master’s at the University of Pennsylvania in Bioethics part-time at night while living in Pennsylvania.
What is Refresh Mental Health?
Refresh Mental Health is a company I founded in 2017 and is now a part of Optum. We are one of the leading outpatient mental health practices in the nation with over 300 locations and 3,000 clinicians.
How did your time in the MPH program prepare you for your current role?
Many of my classmates in the MPH program were interdisciplinary, pursuing dual degrees. There was a PharmD whom I still keep in touch with, an MD whom I also still keep in touch with and then myself being trained in law. Having these friends and connections helped prepare me for my role in mental health delivery and being able to work with different specialties across healthcare to improve the client experience.
What was one takeaway from your MPH that you utilize in your day-to-day?
The MPH program teaches you to think critically and try to make the world a better place. Those values translate to a successful business where we all do well by helping others.