Interviewing people who’ve spent decades in the same position can be challenging. Some are bored and regretful, while others seem detached, focusing on upcoming retirements.
Not so, for upbeat Enfield pediatrician Dr. Richard Segool, who retired in April, just two months shy of 50 years.
The staff of Dr. Richard Segool (center back) donned mustaches, wigs and neckties as a fun way of saying goodbye on April 28, his last day.
He holds pleasant memories of his career and plans to continue serving the medical profession.
As a pediatrician, the genial Segool said he gained “enormous satisfaction” from helping others and enjoyed the close relationships he built with patients.
His career included stints not generally associated with a large-town pediatrician. He traveled to Haiti five times, spending what he called ten exhausting days each trip in “unbelievably challenging conditions” as part of a team providing medical services. “It’s one of the most important things I’ve done, I think, in my life,” he said. He also helped found a well-known area HMO and has worked to build medical information systems that provide better use of patient data for doctors. More on those worthy causes later.
How he came to Enfield
Segool grew up on Chicago’s South Side and attended medical school at McGill University in Montreal. He signed on to a federal program that allowed him to finish his specialty pediatric training in a medically underserved area, provided he stayed for two years. Enfield was one such area in the early 1970s. Segool remained after the program ended and soon joined with two Longmeadow pediatricians to form Pioneer Valley Pediatrics with Longmeadow and Enfield offices. It was a three-doctor practice until 1990, when Segool began hiring more. Today, the firm has ten doctors, many of whom work part-time.
Outside the examining room
On his own time, Segool has been actively involved in the organizational side of medicine. He worked on the Baystate Medical Center steering committee to create the Health New England HMO in 1986 and served on its board for 35 years. Later, he helped Baystate establish a Physician Hospital Organization (PHO), which focused on quality of care and insurance company contracting. He served on that board for 30 years.
In Connecticut, he helped form a pediatrician-only clinically integrated network (CIN) with Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford. It includes the hospital, its specialty physicians, and about 230 community pediatricians. Today, he’s vice chair of the board and chairs its contract and finance committees.
His involvement in medical information systems has focused on what he calls “population health.” The emphasis is on preventative care, looking at health patterns and identifying patients at increased risk of illness so doctors can intervene early when treatment is simpler and more effective.
As examples, he mentioned how the systems can identify patients who’ve missed immunizations and get them back on track. Or, pediatric patients with mental health issues require periodic blood work to guard against side effects. A prescribing psychiatrist may assume the pediatrician is handling the screening, while the pediatrician figures that the psychiatrist is. The systems help correct the issue.
He concluded, “It’s been a very interesting journey to learn about the delivery of medical care and being involved.”
For retired Dr. Richard Segool, the journey is certain to continue.