SPHS Names Leadership Team at Providence Behavioral Health Hospital

HOLYOKE — The Sisters of Providence Health System (SPHS) announced that three physicians have been named to expanded leadership roles for Mercy Behavioral Health Care and Providence Behavioral Health Hospital (PBHH) in Holyoke. The appointments are effective Jan. 1.

Maria Russo-Appel, MD, who has served as the chief medical officer of PBHH for the past year, has been appointed to the position of vice president of Mercy Behavioral Health Care. In this role, Russo-Appel will lead the psychiatric care and behavioral health service lines, including PBHH, for SPHS.

Also, Robert Roose, MD, MPH, who has been serving as chief medical officer of Addiction Services of SPHS for the past the two and a half years, will have expanded responsibilities in a dual role as CMO/vice president of Addiction and Recovery Services, Mercy Behavioral Health Care, and will assume both medical and administrative leadership responsibilities for all addiction treatment and recovery service lines. And Gaurav Chawla, MD, CPE, who has been serving as chief of Psychiatry, will assume the role of chief medical officer, Mercy Behavioral Health Care, and lead new SPHS initiatives in behavioral health such as integration of behavioral health in both primary care and integration into population health management.

As one of the largest providers of behavioral health services in western Massachusetts, Mercy Behavioral Health Care provides access to an entire continuum of high-quality inpatient and outpatient care for people of all ages, from children and adolescents to adults and seniors. Mercy Behavioral Health Care includes both the continuums of Addiction and Recovery Services, from Acute Treatment Services to Outpatient and Opioid Treatment Programs, and Behavioral Health, from inpatient psychiatric treatment to the programs within Brightside for Families and Children.