Senator Honored for Mental Health Advocacy Efforts

U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.; center) was honored with APA’s annual Jacob K. Javits Award for Public Service last month at the U.S. Capitol. Presenting the award were (from left to right) APA members Lisa Shea, M.D., and Andrea Mernan, M.D., of Rhode Island; APA Medical Director James H. Scully Jr., M.D.; and John Wernert, M.D., chair of the APA PAC Board of Directors and Area 4 trustee. Whitehouse led efforts on two key pieces of legislation: the Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, or HITECH Act, which expands psychiatric physicians’ access to Medicare and Medicaid rebates toward the purchase of electronic medical records, and the Children’s Hospitals Education Equity Act, which extends the eligibility for graduate medical education support to several dozen new psychiatric residencies across the country.