Dr. Ann Marie Sullivan is currently Commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Health, responsible for a large, multi-faceted mental health system that serves more than 800,000 individuals each year. The Office of Mental Health (OMH) operates psychiatric centers across the State, and also oversees more than 4,500 community programs, including inpatient and outpatient programs, emergency, community support, residential and family care programs.
As Commissioner, she has guided the transformation of the state hospital system in its emphasis on recovery and expansion of community based treatment, reinvesting over 90 million dollars in community services and redesigning the Medicaid benefit for the seriously mentally ill, embedding critical recovery services such as crisis respite, peer, educational and employment supports. She has expanded services for the mentally ill in prisons and in the much needed community based continuum of care for those leaving prison and returning to their community. As Commissioner she has expanded preventive services for children ages zero to five, spread across New York State First Episode Psychosis Teams, greatly expanded statewide Collaborative Care in Primary Care and improved Parity laws and accountability, including state approval of medical necessity criteria.
Previously, she was the Senior Vice President for the Queens Health Network of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, responsible for Elmhurst and Queens Hospital Centers, two public hospitals which serve a community of over 2 million New York City residents. Dr. Sullivan launched best practices to improve patient safety and the integration of behavioral health and medical care. As these hospitals serve one of the most culturally diverse communities in the US, she developed specialized bilingual bicultural services for the Hispanic and Asian populations that live throughout the borough of Queens NY.
Dr. Sullivan grew up in Queens, New York City. She graduated from NYU and its School of Medicine and completed her Psychiatric Residency at New York University/Bellevue Hospital. She has served as Associate Director of Psychiatry and Medical Director of Ambulatory Care at the Gouverneur Diagnostic and Treatment Center and joined the Queens Health Network as Regional Director of Psychiatry in 1990, overseeing the administrative, budgetary, and clinical aspects of the psychiatric services of both Network hospitals. She has enjoyed an extensive career in public psychiatry and has lectured and published on best practices in community care.
Dr. Sullivan is an active advocate for her patients and her profession. She is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and has served as the Speaker of the American Psychiatric Association’s Assembly and on its Board of Trustees. She is currently Chair of the APA’s Finance and Budget Committee. She is a Clinical Professor at the Mt Sinai School of Medicine, a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, and a member of the American College of Psychiatrists and the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry.
Dr. Sullivan is married to Stephen, who is also a psychiatrist, and is the proud mother of two daughters and two wonderful grandsons.
Follow the link below for Dr. Sullivan's abbreviated curriculum vitae.
