Austin Hall, MD, associate clinical professor, medical director for the STEP Clinics at Carr Mill, Integrated Care, and ACT psychiatrist, was named medical director for the UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health in April. He will oversee the clinical aspect and management of all Center clinics and related programs in Chapel Hill-Carrboro as well as Wake County.
Hall joined the Center in March 2015 to work with the UNC Chatham Orange Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Team and became medical director in 2016 for the Schizophrenia Treatment and Evaluation Program (STEP) at the Carr Mill Clinics.
“I am excited to continue my work with the Center in this expanded role,” he said. “I look forward to further advancing our efforts to employ evidence-based best practices, develop innovative models of care, and disseminate our knowledge to partners throughout the state.”
Prior to joining the Center, Hall worked in community mental health for 12 years at Easter Seals UCP of North Carolina, where he worked on ACT teams and in outpatient clinics in both urban and rural settings. While at Easter Seals UCP, he helped to create the first ACT team in North Carolina that focused, exclusively, on individuals with co-occurring substance use and severe mental illness using Integrated Dual Diagnosis Treatment principles.
“Everyone who works with Austin knows he’s a very thoughtful and accessible leader and is committed to the Center’s mission of providing innovative and quality care,” said John Gilmore, MD, director of the Center. “The Center’s clinical programs will really benefit from him taking on this expanded role.”
Hall received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and his medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine. He completed a residency and chief residency in general psychiatry at UNC School of Medicine in 2004. Hall has a certification in psychiatry from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology as well as certification in addiction medicine from the American Board of Addiction Medicine.