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Dr. Christine
Cauffield named co-chair of Florida agency
devoted to improving Mental Health services
for Seniors
TAMPA, Fla., Dec. 13 /PRNewswire/
-- Dr. Christine Cauffield, president of
Aspire Behavioral Health, Inc., has been
named Co-Chair of The Florida Coalition for
Optimal Mental Health & Aging (FCOMHA), a
volunteer organization that works to improve
the availability, effectiveness and quality
of mental health services for Florida's
older citizens.
"It's an honor to be
selected to lead FCOMHA with my co-chair,
Stephen Ferrante. Much needs to be done to
provide mental health services to our
underserved senior population, and it needs
to be done soon," Dr. Cauffield said.
"Having someone of your
experience and leadership as co-chairs
represents another milestone for the
Coalition," said Dr. Larry Schonfeld, a
professor and chair of the Department of
Aging & Mental Health at the University of
South Florida.
Seniors have high rates
of depression and anxiety and the highest
rates of suicide of all age groups. Seniors
and their families have an urgent need for
high-quality mental health and substance
abuse services, she noted.
Dr. Cauffield is a
psychologist and entrepreneur who resides in
Winder Park. She was CEO of Coastal
Behavioral Health Care in Sarasota for a
number of years, and was responsible for the
overall administration and fiscal management
of a $21 million budget for 58 programs in
23 locations.
Governor Bush named her as a
delegate to the 2005 White House Conference
on Aging and was also appointed to the
Florida Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Corporation, a non-profit corporation
created by the Florida legislature to
oversee the state's publicly funded
substance abuse and mental health services.
Dr. Cauffield and others recently founded
Aspire Behavioral Health, Inc., which will
develop inpatient, acute care geropsychiatry
specialty hospitals. The first such hospital
opens in Denver in April. Ten hospitals are
planned for Florida.
Stephen Ferrante of Ft.
Lauderdale is Executive Director of Broward
County Elderly and Veteran's Services.
ABOUT FCOMHA: The
Florida Coalition for Optimal Mental Health
and Aging was established in 1998 in
response to concerns about the adequacy of
current mental health policy and services
for older adults. It is a broad-based state
coalition of approximately 200 members.
ABOUT ASPIRE: Aspire
Behavioral Health, Inc., is a Denver-based
company that plans some 40 hospitals
nationally to offer acute geropsychiatry
services.
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