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APA urges Senate to confirm McCance-Katz to HHS position
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The APA recently expressed their support for the nomination of Elinore McCance-Katz, MD, PhD, to Assistant Secretary for Mental Health at HHS.
“Dr. McCance-Katz has a wealth of experience in academic and public sector settings in addressing mental health and substance use disorders,” APA President Maria A. Oquendo, MD, PhD, said in a press release. “She is an accomplished physician, and the APA strongly supports her nomination.”
McCance-Katz currently serves as chief medical officer for the Rhode Island Department of Behavioral Health Care, Developmental Disabilities, and Hospitals. In addition, she is a professor of psychiatry and human behavior and professor of behavioral and social sciences at Alpert Medical School, Brown University.
The Assistant Secretary for Mental Health position was created via the 21st Century Cures Act in 2016.
Responsibilities of the role include overseeing the Substance Abuse and Mental Health and Services Administration and coordinating mental health and substance use programs at other federal agencies.
“We urge the Senate to confirm Dr. McCance-Katz as soon as possible,” Saul Levin, MD, MPA, CEO and medical director of the APA, said in the release. “We look forward to working with her to improve the quality of care of mental health and substance use disorders.”