Understanding gaps in care for children with mental health concerns

   Arethusa Stevens Kirk is a National Senior Medical Director for UnitedHealthcare Community & State where she serves as the VP of Population Health & Clinical Strategy supporting each of the health plans nationally to achieve key clinical and business objectives. Areas of focus in her portfolio and for her team include population health strategy, health equity and quality advancement, clinical model and program development, virtual health, medical behavioral health integration and clinical innovation.

   With over 17 years of healthcare and community leadership experience, Dr Kirk has served as the Vice President of Medical Affairs at a Federally Qualified Health Center in Baltimore City and as a National Health Service Corps Scholar. She continues to practice as a primary care physician and as an Associate Physician of the Neurology and Development Inpatient Unit at Kennedy Krieger Institute. Dr Kirk is board certified in Pediatrics and completed her residency at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital.

   She holds an honors degree in Visual Arts and Semiotics from Brown University and her Medical Doctorate from George Washington School of Medicine. Prior to her career in medicine, she served with the Missionaries of Charity in India, taught at an open school in the Republic of South Africa, and lived with a regional village midwife as a U.S. Peace Corps Health Education Volunteer in The Gambia, West Africa. Finally, her parallel chief commitment is to shepherd the development and potential of her two boys.