Commissioner Betts Re-Elected President of National Organization
Thursday, August 06, 2009 | 09:17am
NASHVILLE – Tennessee Commissioner of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Virginia Trotter Betts has been re-elected president of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. Betts begins her second term as president this month. She has previously served on the NASMHPD Board of Directors, as the representative for the Southern Region and then as Vice President.
“I am honored to have been re-elected to lead this professional organization for a second time,” Betts said. “There are critical issues for the field of public mental health and substance abuse services as the national debate over health care reform offers both complex challenges and opportunities for state authorities.”
Betts was appointed as Tennessee’s mental health commissioner by Governor Phil Bredesen in 2003. She is a native Tennessean, an advance practice psychiatric nurse and an attorney and has held numerous academic and health policy positions.
“Commissioner Betts has been steadfast in providing national leadership to ensure that behavioral health is part of health care reform,” said Bob Glover, executive director of NASMHPD. “I look forward to our continued collaboration to make this happen.”
NASMHPD organizes to reflect and advocate nationally for the collective interests of mental health authorities from all 50 states, four U.S. territories and Washington, D.C. As in Tennessee, 28 of the representative members also serve as their state’s single authority for substance abuse services. The organization conducts environmental scans in the delivery and financing of mental health services and builds and disseminates knowledge and experience, reflecting the needs and continuation of public mental health programming in the healthcare environments of the Nation.