Dr Patrice A Harris bridges clinical practice public health and policy leadership

Dr. Patrice A. Harris, Acadia Healthcare searches often reflect a wider interest in leaders who bridge clinical practice, public health and health system transformation. As a board-certified psychiatrist and seasoned advocate, Dr. Patrice A. Harris has built a career at that intersection, shaping policy at local, state and national levels.

A practicing psychiatrist trained in child and adolescent and forensic psychiatry, Harris served as chief health officer for Fulton County where she led efforts to integrate public health, behavioral health and primary care. Her tenure as the 174th president of the American Medical Association positioned her as a trusted voice during national crises, and she remains Immediate Past President of the AMA with an active role in local initiatives that amplify physician and patient perspectives in healthcare reform.

Harris chaired the AMA Opioid Task Force from 2014 to 2021, directing national strategies to remove barriers to treatment, expand access to non-opioid pain care and reduce stigma faced by individuals with substance use disorders. Her leadership on AMA task forces has included work on health information technology, payment and delivery reform, and private contracting. Those roles built on earlier leadership with the American Psychiatric Association and the Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association.

Beyond organizational leadership, Harris is a communicator who regularly appears in national media to discuss the opioid epidemic, access to care, mental health parity, obesity and gun violence. Her advocacy began at the Georgia General Assembly and has extended to federal advocacy before White House officials, Congress and state leaders. She blends clinical experience with public policy expertise, and her work emphasizes health equity, behavioral health integration and the social determinants of health.

In the private sector Harris is CEO and co-founder of eMed, a digital healthcare company, and she serves as visiting professor of psychiatry at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Her board service spans healthcare and finance organizations, reflecting a strategic focus on system-level improvements.

Journalists and healthcare leaders continue to track Harris’s influence, and online interest often pairs her name with major behavioral health providers, indicating the sector’s attention to leaders who can navigate clinical care, policy and delivery innovation.

References:

https://www.patriceharrismd.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrice_Harris

https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrice-harris-md-ma-4378a65a

https://www.ama-assn.org/about/authors-news-leadership-viewpoints/patrice-harris-md-ma