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Mental Health and Wellness

Advancing Mental Health & Wellness

November 6, 2017
Learn more about this event

On November 6, 2017, the Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy hosted a forum, Advancing Mental Health and Wellness, at Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Total Health in Washington, D.C.

The event brought together experts from a variety of backgrounds to share knowledge, spark discussion, and advance collective thinking around mental health and wellness policies and practice. Learn more about the speakers and topics discussed below.

Download “Feedback-Informed Care: A Data-Driven Approach to Improving Mental Health Care at Kaiser Permanente”

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Graphic recorder slide

Welcome and Introduction

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Anthony Barrueta
Senior Vice President, Government Relations
Kaiser Permanente

Keynote: A Father’s Search Through America’s Mental Health Madness

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Pete Earley
Journalist and Author

Channeling Patients’ and Families’ Voices to Improve Systems of Care

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Moderator

Don Mordecai, MD
National Leader for Mental Health and Wellness
Kaiser Permanente

Panelists

Mary Giliberti
Chief Executive Officer
National Alliance on Mental Illness

Kyris Myrick
Director, Office of Consumer Affairs
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Shifting the Paradigm: Transforming Mental Health and Wellness Care

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Moderator

Cecilia Echeverria

Senior Director, Institute for Health Policy
Kaiser Permanente

Panelists

Chuck Ingoglia
Senior Vice President for Policy and Practice Improvement
National Council for Behavioral Health

Glenda Wrenn, MD
Director, Kennedy Satcher Center for Mental Health Equity
Moorhouse School of Medicine

Uma Ahluwalia
Director, Montgomery County Maryland Department of Health and Human Services

Keynote: Featuring the Nation’s First Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use

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Moderator

Murray Ross, PhD
Vice President and Director, Institute for Health Policy
Kaiser Permanente

Elinore McCance-Katz, MD
Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Taking Stock: What are the Policy Opportunities of Today and Tomorrow?

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Richard Frank
Professor of Health Economics
Harvard Medical School

Themes Emerging from Today’s Forum

Anthony Barrueta
Senior Vice President, Government Relations
Kaiser Permanente

Uma Ahluwalia

Uma S. Ahluwalia
Uma Ahluwalia is the director of Montgomery Countys Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in Maryland. Under the departments leadership, HHS developed a strong integration and interoperability framework and is considered a national leader in this work.

She holds a masters degree in social work from the University of Delhi in India and a specialist post-masters degree in health services administration from George Washington University.

Anthony Barrueta

Anthony Barrueta
Tony Barrueta is senior vice president of government relations for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. in Oakland, California. He oversees development of Kaiser Permanente’s public policy positions, in collaboration with senior leadership throughout the organization, to ensure that Kaiser Permanente maintains a common voice in support of the interests of the organization, its members, and the communities it serves.

Barrueta holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Boston College and a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

Pete Early

Pete Earley
Pete Early is a mental health advocate, author and journalist, best-known for his nonfiction book, CRAZY: A Father’s Search Through America’s Mental Health Madness, which was one of two finalists for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize. His book has won awards from the American Psychiatric Association, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Mental Health America, and prompted CNN to name him one of nations top Mental Wellness Warriors. Early writes regularly for USA TODAY and the Washington Post as well as a mental health blog at www.peteearley.com.

Cecilia Echeverría

Cecilia Echeverría, MPH, MPP
Cecilia Echeverría is the executive director for Kaiser Permanente’s Institute for Health Policy where she identifies emerging health policy topics, leads strategy and operations, and guides the Institute’s portfolio of work. Her areas of expertise include access to health care for underserved populations as well as behavioral health, school-based health, and early childhood issues. She joined Kaiser Permanente in 2013 as the Director of Safety Net Partnerships for the National Community Benefit program.

Echeverría holds master’s degrees in public policy and public health from the University of California, Berkeley and is an alumnus of the Presidential Management Fellows program.

Mary Giliberti

Mary Giliberti
Mary Giliberti is the chief executive officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Prior to joining NAMI, she served as a section chief in the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Giliberti holds a bachelors degree from Harvard College and a law degree from Yale Law School.

Elinore McCance-Katz, MD
Dr. Elinor McCance-Katz is the first Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use where she advises the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) on improving behavioral healthcare in America and leads the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) within HHS.

She holds a doctoral degree from Yale University with a specialty in infectious disease epidemiology and is board certified in general psychiatry and addiction psychiatry.

Don Mordecai

Don Mordecai, MD
Dr. Don Mordecai is the national leader for mental health and wellness at Kaiser Permanente, and director of mental health and chemical dependency services for the Permanente Medical Group in Northern California. He is also an adjunct clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Stanford University Medical School.

Dr. Mordecai holds a doctoral degree from Stanford University School of Medicine and is board certified in psychiatry with the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Keris Myrick

Keris Myrick
Keris Jän Myrick is the chief, peer services for the Los Angeles County of Mental Health. Formerly the director of the Office of Consumer Affairs for the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) of the United States Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), she is a leading mental health advocate and executive, known for her innovative and inclusive approach to mental health reform and the public disclosure of her personal story.

Myrick holds a master’s degree in organizational psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology of Alliant International University and a master’s degree in business administration from Case Western Reserve University.

Glenda Wrenn

Glenda Wrenn, MD
Dr. Glenda Wrenn is an associate professor, psychiatrist, and health policy/mental health services researcher at Morehouse School of Medicine where she serves as director of the Kennedy Satcher Center for Mental Health Equity in the Satcher Health Leadership Institute.

Dr. Wrenn holds a master’s degree in health policy research from the University of Pennsylvania and a medical degree from Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University.

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