Tracy Constantine leads his employees by example because it’s the right thing to do and because his leaders do the same. Over the past three years, Constantine has openly shared his mental health struggles with his team, including his severe depression, anxiety, ADHD and PTSD.
Constantine feels fortunate to work for Sutter Health, a California-based not-for-profit healthcare system that is committed to supporting the well-being of its employees and clinicians. Sutter continues to expand access to behavioral health resources, build awareness of available support services and foster a culture where asking for help is encouraged and respected.
Discussing mental health challenges has become more commonplace since the pandemic. In fact, a survey by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) reported that 77% of respondents said they felt comfortable if a co-worker was open about mental health concerns. However, 42% expressed apprehension that their career would be negatively impacted if they talked about mental health concerns in the workplace.
Leading with Compassion
By leading with compassion, Constantine’s manager—Senior Vice President and Chief Integration Officer Jacki Monson—created an environment where he felt safe and empowered to open up to his team.
“She didn’t judge. She called me strong for how long I had fought. She helped me find resources, build new tools and grow my career without abandoning my fight,” says Constantine, a senior director in Sutter’s Integration Management Office. “Under her leadership, I stepped into roles I never thought possible. She created space for me to be genuine and to balance who I am with what I can do. She earned my trust the way leaders should, through compassion and consistency.”
At Sutter, inclusion and belonging are woven into the fabric of the organization’s values and leadership commitments, underscoring the importance of ensuring every individual feels seen, heard and valued. Sutter’s disAbility Sutter Employee Resource Group is one of 10 employee resource groups (others include Pride, Military & Veterans, Asian/Pacific Islander, Multicultural, GenFusion, and more). Each group offers a space to connect, share and create connected and inclusive experiences across the system.
“Our employees are our greatest asset,” Monson says. “Part of being a leader is investing a significant amount of time getting to know our teams personally and professionally. We have to meet our employees where they are and help them be the best they can be.”
Constantine has served as a director for 11 of his 23 years at Sutter. Just as Monson does, he feels it’s his responsibility to create an environment where his team feels supported.
“As a leader, I support people,” he says. “How can I support people if I don’t understand their struggles?”
Constantine says the disAbility SERG is important because at some point, we are all impacted by disability, whether it’s ourselves or someone close to us.
“At Sutter Health, ‘patients first, people always’ is more than a tagline — it’s a guiding principle and a leadership responsibility,” Constantine says. “When Sutter’s president and CEO, Warner Thomas, spoke openly about his own mental health struggles, it mattered. Hearing that at the highest level signaled that the stigma is changing. We’re not fully there yet, but we’re miles ahead of where we were 23 years ago.”
Practicing empathy may not be easy for all people. Monson says it’s important to be a good listener and provide a safe space for employees to discuss their challenges.
“It may not be the first conversation you have with an employee, and that’s OK,” she says. “You have to earn that place. I do that by showing my vulnerabilities, showing that everyone has challenges. Hopefully by doing that, my team says, ‘If she can share, then I can too.’”
Five Steps to Expanding Access to Mental Health Care
In addition to supporting its employees, Sutter is taking five key steps to further expand access to mental health care and make it easier for people to get the support they need:
Making mental health care easier to access: Expanding services—both in-person and virtual—so more people can get excellent care when and where they need it.
Bringing a whole person focus to care: Making it easier to talk about and treat mental health as part of total health by adding behavioral health specialists into its primary care teams. Together the care team can catch concerns earlier and continually improve lasting outcomes.
Strengthening services in the community: Investing in access to outpatient programs, crisis care, seniors’ care and long-term support—especially in places that need it most.
Building the best place to practice medicine, conduct research and learn: Sutter is focused on hiring and keeping great people, offering training and career paths and supporting clinician well-being so its teams can keep doing their best work.
Making mental health care access a systemwide priority: Embedding mental health care into everything the organization does—from prevention to specialty and emergency services—because mental health is essential to overall health.