Business
Acadia Healthcare Welcomes Dr. Patrice A. Harris, MD, MA as Independent Director
Former President of the American Medical Association and Board-Certified Psychiatrist Adds Significant Mental Health and Substance Abuse Clinical Expertise
About this update from Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\nFormer President of the American Medical Association and Board-Certified Psychiatrist Adds Significant Mental Health and Substance Abuse Clinical Expertise\n\n\n FRANKLIN, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nAcadia Healthcare Company, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACHC) today announced that Dr. Patrice A. Harris, MD, MA has been appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors effective October 26, 2023.\n\nThis press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231026253607/en/Acadia Healthcare welcomes Dr. Patrice A. Harris, MD, MA as Independent Director (Photo: Business Wire)\nDr. Harris is board-certified in psychiatry and has diverse experience as a private practicing physician, public health director and patient advocate. Active in organized medicine throughout her 25-year career, Dr. Harris previously served on the Board of Trustees of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and was an APA delegate to the American Medical Association (AMA). In 2019, Dr. Harris was elected as the 174th President of the AMA, the first African American woman to ever hold the position in which she served until 2020. She also previously served as Chair of the AMA’s Opioid Task Force and on AMA work groups devoted to health information technology, sustainable growth rate and private contracting. Currently, Dr. Harris continues in private practice and is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of eMed Digital Healthcare, a digital healthcare company she co-founded in 2020.\n\n\nDr. Harris’ medical leadership positions at the state level include serving on the Board and as President of the Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association and on the Medical Association of Georgia’s Council on Legislation, its Committee on Constitution and Bylaws, and its Membership Task Force. She was also the founding president of the Georgia Psychiatry Political Action Committee. As past director of Health Services for Fulton County, Ga., which includes Atlanta, Dr. Harris was the county’s Chief Health Officer, overseeing all county health-related programs and functions, including a wide range of public safety, behavioral health, and primary care treatment and prevention services.\n\n\nShe is a Visiting Professor at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Department of Psychiatry, an Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry ...