September 4, 2008
Contact:
Patrice Vick
Communications
(651) 431-2380
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Physician Sulik named new DHS assistant commissioner
L. Read Sulik, medical director for child and adolescent psychiatry of the St. Cloud
Hospital/CentraCare Health System, has been named assistant commissioner for
Chemical and Mental Health Services for the Minnesota Department of Human
Services effective Nov. 3.
Sulik will be responsible for State Operated Services programs serving people with
mental illness, developmental disabilities, chemical dependency and traumatic brain
injury as well as the DHS Adult Mental Health, Children’s Mental Health and Chemical
Health divisions. State Operated Services, which provides its services at communitybased and on campus settings statewide, employs approximately 4,300 people.
About 75 people are employed in the other divisions, which are responsible for public
policy development in those areas.
“DHS is fortunate to have someone with Dr. Sulik’s clinical background and leadership
experience as we build on significant progress already made in developing effective
and accountable mental health and chemical health systems and surpass milestones
in the transformation of State Operated Services,” said Human Services
Commissioner Cal Ludeman. “SOS once provided services primarily in institutional
settings. Now, in addition to programs at Anoka-Metro Regional Treatment Center
and on the campus in St. Peter, it operates 10 new 16-bed psychiatric hospitals,
smaller chemical dependency treatment facilities and other community-based
services throughout the state.”
Sulik, of St. Cloud, is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and pediatrician who is also
board certified in adult psychiatry. In his current position he has been instrumental in
developing the CentraCare Integrated Behavioral Healthcare Initiative, which involves
mental health screening, assessments, collaboration and treatment in the primary
care clinics across the CentraCare Health System.
He has worked closely with the CentraCare Health Foundation to raise several million
dollars for the development of child and adolescent behavioral health services at St.
Cloud Hospital, including Clara’s House, a freestanding intensive partial
hospitalization facility for children and adolescents with mental health and chemical
dependency problems. Clara’s House received the Outstanding Benefit to the
Community Award in January from the Minnesota Hospital Association.
Sulik was awarded the Psychiatrist of the Year Award in 2007 and the Distinguished
Service Award in 2008 by the Minnesota Psychiatric Society. In 2008 he also
received the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance on Mental
Illness. He is the immediate past president of the Minnesota Society for Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry and has served as an executive council member for the
Minnesota Psychiatric Society. He received his medical degree from the University of
Minnesota Medical School in 1993 and completed his training as a pediatrician, adult
psychiatrist and child and adolescent psychiatrist in the Triple Board Combined
Residency Program at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Ky.
Sulik intends to maintain a part-time child and adolescent psychiatry practice in St.
Cloud.
He replaces Wes Kooistra, who has accepted a position as chief financial officer for
the Metropolitan Council.
-30This information is available on the DHS Web site: www.dhs.state.mn.us