May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and, while lack of access to mental health care is a national problem, Alabama’s needs are especially acute. Our state has higher rates of depression, substance abuse, and other mental health issues than the national average, and ranks at the bottom in the number of trained mental health care providers per capita. I am proud that the Heersink School of Medicine is at the forefront of tackling these challenges. And thanks to our regional campuses, our impact extends across the state.
Our regional campuses in Montgomery and Huntsville are launching new psychiatry residency programs this summer. Additionally, the Heersink School of Medicine has partnered with the Cahaba Medical Care Foundation to launch a joint venture called the Cahaba+UAB Rural Psychiatry Residency program, which launches in June. By training residents locally, we hope to retain these professionals within the state and address critical provider shortages, particularly in rural and medically underserved areas.
The UAB Huntsville Psychiatry Residency Program is led by program director Janaki Nimmagadda, M.D., and assistant program directors Clinton Martin, M.D., regional chair of Psychiatry, and Anupama Yedla, M.D. The residency will welcome its first six interns, including three Heersink School of Medicine graduates, on July 1. The trainees will expand services as they gain broad clinical experience at UAB Huntsville, Huntsville Hospital, Huntsville VA Clinics, and other sites, and through active involvement in clinical research, led by Rick Shelton, M.D.
Under Dr. Shelton’s leadership, the Huntsville Psychiatry Department also offers new and innovative treatments like esketamine and vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) and has conducted more than 20 clinical trials, serving patients with intractable mental illnesses that have not responded to standard medication management.
Will Rutland, M.D., regional chair of Psychiatry, leads the new UAB Montgomery Psychiatry Residency Program, which welcomes its first three interns this July. Among them are candidates with advanced degrees and deep experience in public psychiatry and addiction, both of which will serve as areas of focus for the program based in the Capital City.
Dr. Rutland is also the driving force behind Alabama’s first street psychiatry clinic, known as the Homeless Outreach and Psychiatry Education, or HOPE, Clinic. Furthering the Montgomery Psychiatry Residency Program’s focus on community-integrated care, trainees will work with staff and team members to treat opioid use disorder, unintentional opioid overdose, and co-occurring serious mental illnesses by traveling to areas where the unhoused and unstably housed population lives and providing care directly in the community.
The Cahaba+UAB Rural Psychiatry Residency program is run by John B. Waits, M.D., the program director and CEO of Cahaba Medical Care Foundation. The Cahaba+UAB Rural Psychiatry Residency program will take three residents per year starting this June. They will be active at multiple rural sites including Bibb County (Centreville and Woodstock), Perry County (Marion), and Wilcox County (Camden).
Last month, I had the opportunity to attend the third annual Montgomery Health Policy Meeting (MHPM). This year’s topic was mental health care, and the panelists, including Dr. Rutland, offered a fascinating range of perspectives, from a discussion outlining the current state of mental health care in Alabama to a presentation on legislative efforts around preventing firearm-assisted suicide.
The annual Kennamer Distinguished Lecture, which is now part of the MHPM, featured Kenneth Rosenberg, M.D. A psychiatrist and documentary filmmaker, Dr. Rosenberg focused on the long-term costs of untreated mental illness, emphasizing that, while mental health care is expensive, emergency care costs even more, both in lives and dollars. He stressed the importance of early education and preventive care and shared a short documentary about teaching young adults about mental health.
Early intervention, which can improve patient outcomes and quality of life, is a particular focus of the UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology on our Birmingham campus. Led by Chair Adrienne Lahti, M.D., the department has launched three early intervention clinics, called the TEAM (Treatment, Education, and Multidisciplinary Approaches for Mental Health) Clinics, for psychosis, mood, and substance use disorders. This innovative model was introduced at UAB more than a decade ago with the department’s First Episode Psychosis Program, and the expansion of services to mood and substance use disorders distinguishes us as a leader in the field.
Medical devices including vagus nerve stimulation and deep brain stimulation for the most severe forms of depression are being explored at UAB in collaboration with industry partners, and a new transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) program for treatment-resistant depression will launch soon.
Patients seen in the UAB Emergency Department who are struggling with opioid use and other substance use disorders are receiving rapid access to addiction treatment services through the Beacon Recovery Program. This program offers specialized psychiatric, medical, psychotherapy, social work, and peer support services for individuals and their families struggling with substance use disorders.
As Mental Health Awareness Month reminds us of the urgent need for accessible, high-quality mental health care, I am proud that the Heersink School of Medicine is leading meaningful change and helping to build a stronger mental health care infrastructure statewide. Through education, research, and compassionate outreach, we are working toward a future where every Alabamian has the mental health support they need to thrive.