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Anita Everett, M.D., DFAPA

Director of the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)

Dr. Everett is the Director of the Center for Mental Health Services within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Serving in this role since 2018, she provides executive leadership for federal efforts to improve the nation’s mental health service systems.

Prior to SAMHSA, Dr. Everett served as the Section Chief of The Johns Hopkins Bayview Community and General Psychiatry in Baltimore, Maryland. She was on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Bloomberg School of Public Health. At Hopkins, she directed 22 community psychiatry programs that provided a range of services to individuals from preschool age to older adults, that included intensive acute services as well as recovery support services for persons with serious mental illnesses. More recently at Hopkins, she was involved with the leadership of health system behavioral health integration into accountable care structures.

Earlier in her career, Dr. Everett also served as the Senior Medical Advisor to SAMHSA where she worked on the promotion of access to quality services and access to medications in the Medicare prescription drug benefit. From 1999 to 2003, she served as the Inspector General to the Office of the Governor in the Department of Mental Health in Virginia. During this time, she completed over 80 inspections of Institutions operated and licensed to provide mental health services in Virginia. She received the Patrick Henry Award for outspoken advocacy.

Dr. Everett is a past president of the American Psychiatric Association, Maryland Psychiatric Society and the American Association of Community Psychiatry and has received commendation for her work in national healthcare reform and advocacy. She has served on the National Institute on Drug Abuse National Advisory Council, is currently an ex-officio member of the National Institute of Mental Health National Advisory Council and is also active in several professional organizations. She has been engaged in a number of international projects, including with the Global Leadership Exchange, and has provided consultation to the Ministries of Health, Department of Mental Health in Iraq and Afghanistan on the implementation of mental health services in these countries.

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