The AHA's Committee on Behavioral Health today announced its chair, chair-elect and new members for 2025. The officers are:

  • Zelia Baugh, executive vice president, behavioral health, JPS Health Network,  committee chair. 
  • Mary Marran, president and COO, Butler Hospital and chief administrative officer, Care New England, chair-elect. 
  • Jill Howard, R.N., senior consultant, Sheppard Pratt Solutions, past chair. 

 
Joining the committee as new members are:

  • Paul Rains, R.N., president, St. Joseph’s Behavioral Health Center and system senior vice president of behavioral health, Common Spirit. 
  • Scott Nygaard, M.D., former chief operating officer, Lee Health. 
  • Marlene Martin, M.D., director, addiction care team, University of California San Francisco Medical center; director, addiction initiatives, UCSF Latinx Center of Excellence; and associate professor of clinical medicine, UCSF.   

 
Reappointed to another three-year term is:

  • Amanda Klahr, R.N., nursing director, inpatient behavioral health services, Denver Health 


The committee advises AHA on policy and advocacy and provides a forum for strategic discussion of issues important to behavioral health providers and the field. Learn more about AHA’s work on behavioral health

Related News Articles

Perspective
Public
More than 48 million Americans — 16.8% of the 12-and-older population — have a substance use disorder (SUD), according to the 2025 National Survey on Drug Use…
Headline
An AHA blog published Sept. 16 highlights programs and practices by Boston Medical Center leaders and staff that support residents’ mental health, emotional…
Headline
Susan Doherty, AHA’s vice president of field engagement, and Rebecca Chickey, AHA’s senior director of behavioral health services, write on the unique ways…
Blog
This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that over 49,000 people died by suicide in 2023, the latest year for which data was…
Headline
The Senate Sept. 18 passed the AHA-supported SUPPORT Act (H.R. 2483) by a voice vote, advancing the bill to President Trump to sign into law. The bill…
Headline
In a video released Sept. 17 for National Physician Suicide Awareness Day, Carrie Cunningham, M.D., an associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School…