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It’s a significant recognition of Harris’ effectiveness as a spokesperson for physicians by the leaders of American medicine. APA leaders say it testifies to the trust her fellow board members place in her and to the high regard in which she is held throughout the House of Delegates.
The AMA Board of Trustees is an elected body of 21 physicians who guide the AMA as it sets standards and policy for the medical profession. Harris is a former member of the APA Board of Trustees. “I am thrilled that Dr. Harris will serve as Chair-Elect on the AMA Board,” said APA President Renee Binder, M.D. “The APA Board of Trustees is looking forward to working with her as both groups strive to improve and advance the practice of medicine.”
APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A., noted: “It’s an honor to have one of our former Board of Trustees members re-elected to the AMA Board of Trustees and become Chair-Elect of the board. Dr. Harris will continue to carry the integration of psychiatry and mental health within the house of medicine.”
Harris has taken on several leadership roles at the AMA, including a term as chair of the AMA Council on Legislation. “It’s a great honor to be elected Chair-Elect to our AMA Board of Trustees,” Harris said. ”I am proud to be in this role and to have a strong voice for the patients we serve. My success in the AMA is in no small part due to the hard work of the members of the Section Council on Psychiatry.”
Harris is the Director of Fulton County (Ga.) Health Services and the head of the Fulton County Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. As director of health services for Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, Harris directs all county health services, including health partnerships that deliver a wide range of treatment and prevention services. She is a past president of the Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association and served as a member of the AMA Women Physicians Congress. Harris also maintains a private psychiatric practice.
For more information about Harris, see the Psychiatric News articles “Patrice Harris, M.D., Elected Secretary of AMA Board” and “Psychiatrists Vie for AMA Positions: Harris Seeks Board of Trustees Seat.”