APA Experience

For over thirty years I have been working and advocating through the APA for our members and our patients. The experience and collegial relationships I have made have been incredibly rewarding.  The APA is truly the voice for American Psychiatry and has been an incredible force for our profession over the decades.  There is no more effective advocate for our profession and our patients than the APA.

I have regularly advocated at the city, state and national level on mental health issues. In my committee and leadership positions I have worked to improve member voice and benefits in the APA at the level of the practicing psychiatrist, and worked for a valued role for psychiatrists in the systems of care for our seriously ill patients.  I have worked to end the stigma and discrimination against those living with mental illness and for the full and successful integration of individuals living with mental illness in their communities.   I have had the pleasure and opportunity to mentor generations of psychiatrists in their careers in public psychiatry.

I am currently the Commissioner of the NY State Office of Mental Health and have come to know even more how invaluable the APA is in promoting and enriching psychiatry in the complex world of healthcare.

POSITIONS HELD IN THE APA:

Current

• Chair of the APA Finance and Budget Committee  2018–present
• Parliamentarian Board of Trustees 2018-present
• Council on Healthcare Systems and Financing Member 2017–present
• Member and current Distinguished Life Fellow APA 1978–present

Past Positions

• Parliamentarian Board of Trustees 2016-2017
• Immediate Past Speaker APA Assembly 2012-2013
• Speaker APA Assembly 2011-2012
• Speaker-Elect Assembly 2010-2011
• Recorder Assembly 2009-2010
• Area 2 Trustee APA Board of Trustees 2002-2008
• Assembly Rep NY County District Branch 2008-2009 and 1995-2002
• Treasurer New York State Psychiatric Association 1998-2002
• Legislative Representative and Chair Legislative Committee NY County District Branch 1989-2009

Past Committee, Workgroup and Task Force Memberships

• Conflict of Interest Committee
• APA CEO/Medical Director Search Committee
• Board of Trustees Ad Hoc Workgroup on Strategic Planning
• Joint Reference Committee
• Assembly Executive Committee
• Chair Assembly Long Term Planning
• Budget and Finance Committee
• Chair Board of Trustees Ad Hoc Workgroup on Membership
• Liaison to select Components of the APA