BHB Psychiatrist, Dr. Chantelle Simmons, Speaks At Howard University Symposium

(Hamilton, Bermuda – 23 June 2011) Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) today announces that Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute (MWI) consultant psychiatrist Dr. Chantelle Simmons spoke at a conference about Bermuda’s introduction of the Recovery Model at a Howard University symposium in Washington D.C on Wednesday 22 June 2011.

The three-day conference, entitled Promoting Recovery and Rehabilitation in African American Mental Health, brings together twelve distinguished speakers from across the United States for the three-day symposium, including those from Howard, Dartmouth and Harvard universities. Dr. Simmons is the sole international speaker.

“I am gratified that MWI’s recovery-based mental health care model is at the forefront of best practice when it comes to excellent mental health treatment. The recovery model is the foundation on which our new mental health plan, launched a year ago, is based. That our recovery model features at a symposium of this calibre is a clear signal that we are keeping pace with programmes of care in the United States. My lecture, called Approaches to Implementing the Recovery Model in Bermuda, shares the steps we have taken to initiate this new model of care. Involving service users in their recovery is central to this new approach, which is designed to give service users a greater voice in terms of their treatment.” says Dr. Simmons.

David Hill, CEO and president of BHB, says, “The recovery model reflects MWI’s new philosophy, which informs how services are being structured and focuses on improving community support. I am very pleased that Dr. Simmons will have the opportunity to talk about Bermuda’s new model of care. It is also an opportunity to hear from leading experts in African American mental health, which may provide new insights into the Bermudian experience.”

Dr. Simmons studied at Warwick Academy before studying abroad. After receiving her medical degree in Canada, she received training in psychiatry at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where she also received a fellowship to study addiction psychiatry. She returned to Bermuda in 2009 to take up a post as consultant psychiatrist at MWI. Her practice focuses on service users in general adult psychiatry as well as substance abuse treatment.

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