New leadership announced for Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute

NASHVILLE – E. Douglas Varney, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (TDMHSAS), has announced the appointment of Bob Micinski as interim Chief Executive Officer for Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute (MTMHI), effective October 19, 2012.

Since his appointment in January 2011, Commissioner Varney has operated under the directive that Governor Bill Haslam gave to all members of his Cabinet: improve all the services that the State provides to residents of Tennessee. In that regard, Commissioner Varney has been working to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of all of the Regional Mental Health Institutes (RMHIs) that are operated by the state. Along with the continual transformation of a number of services within the TDMHSAS – including Crisis Services, Peer Support Services, Prescription Drug Abuse Services, and more – Commissioner Varney has made sure that improving the quality of care at the RMHIs has been and will continue to be a key priority.

“I appreciate all the hard work and dedicated service shown by Candace Gilligan during her 3-plus years as CEO of MTMHI and nearly 10 years working with this Department,” Commissioner Varney said. “As we move forward, we are excited by Bob’s many years of state hospital experience in senior management as well as his many years of experience working with community mental health and substance abuse agencies. We look forward to the energy he will bring to this new position as we continue to enhance the role our state hospitals play in improving the lives of all Tennesseans.”

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Micinski worked as the Assistant Superintendent of Quality Management for Lakeshore Mental Health Institute, where he oversaw all medical records, patients’ rights, and quality services for the hospital, devoting much of his energy to ensuring the hospital’s compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local health care regulations as well as standards and certification requirements of monitoring bodies. Most recently, he was the Director of the East Tennessee Behavioral Health Transformation Project for the Department, where he worked with community outpatient providers and private inpatient psychiatric providers to ensure a continuity of quality health care in the area formerly served by LMHI and all around East Tennessee.

For more information, please contact Michael Rabkin, Director of Communications for the TDMHSAS, at (615) 532-6597, (615) 943-3172 (cell), or Michael.Rabkin@tn.gov.