MHASP Names New President to its Board of Directors

Michael J. Vergare, M.D., the new president of MHASP's board of directors, is a psychiatrist who has long been involved in helping to reshape the way in which care is delivered to people with severe and persistent mental illnesses.

Vergare, who is chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at both Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and Albert Einstein Healthcare Network, was elected to the post at MHASP's Annual Meeting on October 7. He will serve for one year, when he will finish his second three-year term on the board.

According to MHASP bylaws, board members may only serve two terms before they must step off the board for at least three years.

Vergare said he was pleased to be elected to the top leadership position on the board, and that he looks forward to helping to guide MHASP's growth.

"I'm glad to be part of this organization," he said. "I've been involved with the Mental Health Association for more than 12 years, one way or another."

Vergare's association with MHASP dates back to the late 1980s, when he was a founding member of the Coalition for the Responsible Closing of Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry). Not only did the Coalition's activities help close the hospital in 1987, but it also helped create Philadelphia's nationally recognized network of mental health services, administered by both professionals and consumers of mental health services.

Vergare was also instrumental in creating the Consumer Satisfaction Team, a quality assurance group comprised of consumers, family members and professionals that oversees the quality and performance of city- and state-funded programs for the seriously mentally ill, and served as first president of its founding board.

He also helped design and establish the current network of Long-Term Structured Residences in Philadelphia, which provides a therapeutic home for those with serious and persistent mental illness.

Vergare graduated from La Salle College in 1967 and from Hahnemann Medical College in 1971. Over the years, his publications have focused on the chronically mentally ill, homelessness, community residential care, and the administration of community-based systems of care.

Vergare has served as president of the Philadelphia Psychiatric Society and the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Society. He chairs both the Governor's Advisory Committee on Mental Health and Mental Retardation and the American Psychiatric Association's Committee on Medical Student Education.