SOUTHBRIDGE, Mass. – March 14, 2016 – Harrington HealthCare System has named Greg Mirhej as executive director of behavioral health services.
Mirhej, a Springfield resident, has been assistant vice president of Harrington’s behavioral health department and director of its recovery services program since 2012. In that role, he has influenced effective and positive changes within the department, including the expansion of sites and referral sources, drug court initiatives in Dudley and East Brookfield, and development of a new intensive outpatient program for patients with substance use disorders. He also served as the clinical and operational director for the Commonwealth’s CHART investment program of $3.4 million to expand behavioral health services at Harrington.
In his new role, Mirhej will oversee all behavioral health services and develop new programs, including outpatient and inpatient dual-diagnosis services, in order to address the growing needs of those struggling with addiction and mental illness through the creation of a continuum of care at a local level.
“Greg has brought a wealth of experience to our health care system,” said Ed Moore, President and CEO. “He has greatly improved our recovery services program, and created key relationships within our towns, including with municipal law enforcement. His work to provide comprehensive substance abuse and mental health programs to southern Worcester County has been visionary. We look forward to Greg continuing to be an asset to Harrington and our community in his new role.”
Mirhej has more than 25 years’ experience in the mental health and substance abuse fields, developing the first pilot program to the mentally ill homeless for the federal government of Canada, as a consultant to the commissioner of mental health and addiction services for the State of Connecticut, as a research scientist and director of urban outreach at Yale University, and as the vice president of Martin Luther King, Jr Family Services in Springfield.
Since 2009, Mirhej has also been an adjunct professor of psychology at Bath Path College in Longmeadow, MA and the University of Connecticut at Storrs.
He received his bachelor’s degree from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y. and his master’s degree in social work from the University of Connecticut. He has been published in numerous journals including Harvard Health Policy Review and the Journal of Drug Issues.
© 2024 UMass Memorial Health
