A special message from the UNC Center for Excellence In Community Mental Health Leadership Team in honor of the CECMH’s 15 year milestone.
The Center has its roots as far back as 1993 when Dr. Gilmore and his team received a UNC Hospitals Innovations Grant to develop a psychotic disorders specialty inpatient unit (Cover Photo). Programming developed for the unit was expanded into the outpatient setting with the establishment of the STEP (Schizophrenia Treatment and Evaluation Program) Clinic and the rest, as they say, is history.
From the beginning, the Center recognized that the fullest recovery possible requires an “all of the above” approach – medication, therapy, community-based recovery and rehabilitation, integrated behavioral and physical health care, and a focus on the social determinates of health such as housing, food, and employment. The Center has experienced enormous growth, and its programs now serve patients throughout central North Carolina. Furthermore, the Center’s training and technical assistance programs have a state-wide and even national reach.
The Center is full of creative and passionate people whose hard work and vision have been the basis of our innovative growth. We are proud to help lead this incredible team, and we are thankful for our partners and collaborators, our funders, our Advisory Board members, and everyone who has supported us over the years. We could not have done this without you. There is so much more to do, and we are already at work on many exciting ideas for the Center’s next chapter. Next time you see one of us ask “What’s next?”
Want to see what the Center has been doing over the past 15 years? Check out the timeline on our About Us page!
Celebrating 15 Years of Innovative Whole Person Care!