Press Release

Ted Hirsch to Lead AHA's Section for Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Services

Contact:
David Allen, AHA - (202) 626-2313
Elizabeth Lietz, AHA - (202) 626-2284

Washington D.C.

Ted Hirsch, administrator for Kalispell Regional Medical Center (KRMC) and Pathways Treatment Center, is the 2008 chair of the American Hospital Association's (AHA) Section for Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Services.

Kalispell Regional Medical Center is a general acute care hospital, serving communities in northwest Montana and Canada.  Pathways Treatment Center is a 40-bed psychiatric and substance abuse hospital.  Both are part of Northwest Healthcare, a health system which includes a skilled nursing facility, a foundation dedicated to enhancing the health and well being of individuals, families and communities, and an 115,500 square foot fitness center with a variety of classes, programs and services available to everyone.

Hirsch has over 20 years administrative experience in the health care field, managing both acute care and psychiatric/substance abuse hospitals.  In 1993, Hirsch was regional administrator for SSM Healthcare System's Behavioral Services Division, responsible for 220 licensed inpatient beds and multiple outpatient locations.  In 1996, he became CEO of Meadow Pines Hospital, a 94-bed private psychiatric hospital in Longview, Texas.  Hirsch moved to northwest Montana in 1999. 

Hirsch holds a master's degree in education and is a Fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE).  He also serves as the ACHE regent for Montana.

Anil Godbole, M.D., chair of the department of psychiatry at Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago, was named chair-elect and will assume the role of chair in 2009.  Rick Palmisano, president and CEO of Northern Berkshire Healthcare in North Adams, Mass., is the immediate past chair. 

Elected to three-year terms on the governing council were: Scott Bond, chief executive-Southwest Washington Service Area, Providence Health & Services, Olympia, Wash.; Paul Jeffery, vice president/administrator, Wesley Long Community Hospital, Greensboro, N.C.; William Montague, medical center director, Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio; Bruce Schwartz, M.D., executive vice chairman, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, N.Y.; Diane Stewart, chief administrative officer, Sutter Center for Psychiatry/Sutter Health, Sacramento, Calif.; and Debora Tanner, vice president/administrator, Riverside Behavioral Health Center, Hampton, Va.

About AHA

The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the improvement of health in their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which includes more than 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations, and 38,000 individual members. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends.