SafeHavenMD Team
Nishant Patel, MD
Founder/CEO
I’m Dr. Nishant Patel, a urologist by training, but more importantly, someone who has faced many of the same struggles physicians go through - depression, burnout, substance use, and suicidal thoughts. During medical school, I battled alcoholism, only getting help after a DUI. I then spent a decade sober, but when both my children had significant health issues, I spiraled into depression and experienced suicidal thoughts. I was confined to my bed with darkness enshrouding me, and I only wanted to end the pain. Mine is not a story of individual perseverance. I had many trusted people helping me and guiding me along the way. They loved me when I could not love myself. I endured multiple inpatient stays and, in part, found my way through by stepping back from academic medicine and pursuing private practice part-time. I’m also pursuing an MBA to help spread the critical mission of SafeHavenMD. I finally got the help I needed and am doing so well. I want to give back to other physicians.
My passion has always been helping others, and I’ve been fortunate to experience moments of grace and compassion in various healthcare systems. However, I’ve also faced isolation, discrimination, and job loss because of my history of substance use and depression. I’m committed to ensuring no other physician has to suffer the same fate simply for seeking help. At SafeHavenMD, I want to fight for physicians to get the support they need without fearing for their careers. We do this with the utmost confidentiality and anonymity if you prefer. Asking for help shouldn’t come with the risk of losing everything. My goal is simple: to see every physician succeed in both their personal and professional lives. I send my love, light, and hope to you and your loved ones on this journey. You WILL get through this.
Grant Gangeness
Chief Product Officer
I’m Grant Gangeness, an experienced biomedical engineer & product manager, passionate about addressing challenging problems and bringing innovative solutions to market. After nearly a decade of new product development experience in the structural heart space, specifically designing medical devices to address aortic stenosis and mitral regurgitation, I saw firsthand the healthcare system's demands on physicians. In these structural heart procedures, I observed how the interventional cardiologist was expected to perform perfectly, with no error, on every single procedure. The demand for excellence was unrelenting, and the precision with which they performed their craft was inspiring. It was apparent then that this was taking a toll on the physician and their staff, often with a backlog of patients, all expecting the same level of excellence in care. I usually left the hospital exhausted after only a couple of days as a visiting professional; I was at a loss as to how someone could do this day in and day out, with consistently high levels of care.
As the son of a registered nurse, my mom spent 35 years working in the post-surgical wing of a regional hospital, so I grew up hearing of the immense pressure of the healthcare system on the nurses and, by extension, their physician partners. I saw firsthand the toll the stress would take on my mom, and now, today, I understand more clearly how that same stress was amplified in the physician community. Today, I’m passionate about addressing this problem of stress and burnout in the medical community, which can often lead to mental health problems in physicians. I’m pursuing Dr. Nishant Patel’s mission to empower healthcare professionals to prioritize their well-being, ensuring a healthier, more resilient medical community.
I’m the Chief Product Officer at SafeHavenMD, responsible for crafting a digital product platform and strategy aligned with Nishant’s mission to provide a mental health platform designed to address physicians' mental health needs. I look forward to leveraging my professional engineering, product manager experience, and my Executive MBA education at the University of California, San Diego, to bring a differentiated mental health platform to market for the physician community. Together, we can reduce burnout and enhance healthcare quality.
Operate with Zen Podcast with Nishant Patel and Phil Pierorazio - “Recovery, Resilience, and Purpose” (2022)
