APA Member Patrice Harris, M.D., Voted in as Chair-Elect of AMA Board of Trustees

Wed June 10, 2015

For Information Contact:
Glenn O'Neal, 703-907-8640
press@psych.org
Erin Connors, 703-907-8562
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CHICAGO, June 10, 2015 — Patrice Harris, M.D., a psychiatrist and past member of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Board of Trustees, was voted into office as Chair-Elect of the American Medical Association (AMA) Board of Trustees earlier today.

The Board of Trustees is an elected body of 21 physicians who guide the AMA as it sets standards and policy for the medical profession. “I am thrilled that Dr. Harris will serve as Chair-Elect on the AMA Board,” said APA President Renee Binder, M.D. “The APA Board of Trustees is looking forward to working with her as both groups strive to improve and advance the practice of medicine.”

Harris’ election to Chair-Elect comes in the wake of her re-election yesterday to a second term on the AMA Board of Trustees. She was first elected to the board in 2011. APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A., noted: “It’s an honor to have one of our former Board of Trustees members re-elected to the AMA Board of Trustees and become Chair-Elect of the board. Dr. Harris will continue to carry the integration of psychiatry and mental health within the house of medicine.”

Harris has taken on several leadership roles at the AMA, including a term as chair of the AMA Council on Legislation. “It’s a great honor to be elected Chair-Elect to our AMA Board of Trustees,” Harris said. ”I am proud to be in this role and to have a strong voice for the patients we serve. My success in the AMA is in no small part due to the hard work of the members of the Section Council on Psychiatry.”

Harris is the Director of Fulton County (Ga.) Health Services and the head of the Fulton County Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. As director of health services for Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, Harris directs all county health services, including health partnerships that deliver a wide range of treatment and prevention services. She is a past president of the Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association and served as a member of the AMA Women Physicians Congress. Harris also maintains a private psychiatric practice.

The American Psychiatric Association is a national medical specialty society whose physician members specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and research of mental illnesses, including substance use disorders. Visit the APA at www.psychiatry.org.

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