Staff Changes At Sierra Tucson

Greetings!

We hope you are enjoying the start of a healthy, productive year. Thank you for taking time to read important updates about Sierra Tucson.

In the last few months, some leadership changes have occurred. Dr. Robert Johnson left Sierra Tucson at the end of December after four and a half years of service and many contributions to the organization. We wish him all the best. Fortunately, we have assembled an incredible team of medical and clinical professionals to guide Sierra Tucson going forward. This includes Jerry Lerner, MD, who has been appointed Interim Medical Director. Dr. Lerner joined our team in December 2010 as a leader in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Chief of Pain Medicine. His experience as medical director for several rehabilitation hospitals and facilities has certainly helped him transition smoothly into this new role. We are in the midst of recruiting for a permanent medical director and feel confident that we will fill the role with strong leadership.

Sierra Tucson extended a warm welcome in November 2012 to Mayday Levine-Mata, PsyD, as our new Program Director. Dr. Levine-Mata holds a doctorate of Clinical Psychology from Antioch New England University in New Hampshire and a Certificate of Management and Organizations from the University of Arizona. Her experience includes several clinical management positions, numerous clinical publications, and presentations at local and national conferences. Dr. Levine-Mata is a licensed clinical psychologist in the State of Arizona and is a member and current President of the Southern Arizona Psychology Association.

Dr. Nia Sipp joined Sierra Tucson's medical team in December 2012. She received her medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and completed Fellowships in both Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry at Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Sipp is Board-certified in General Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Addiction Psychiatry.
She relocated from the Atlanta area, where she was on staff at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Willowbrooke at Tanner and was in private practice with Meridian Psychiatric Associates. Dr. Sipp has received several national recognitions and was the 2007 Recipient of the APA/SAMHSA Minority Fellowship Award.

Our staff members and our patients are enjoying the immense competence and compassion that these two bring to our programs.

We are also pleased to announce Sierra Tucson's new partnership with Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute. We will be working collaboratively with this institute to bring more awareness of Somatic Experiencing�, which is a powerful integrative therapy that Sierra Tucson provides to patients for trauma recovery.

Sierra Tucson announced the completion of a $1.7 million capital improvement project, with $800,000 in additional improvements also in the works. The renovations began two years ago with the goals to further enhance patient satisfaction and engagement, key influencers of treatment success. We are very pleased with these facility enhancements and truly believe they will positively affect our patients' experience at Sierra Tucson.

We hope you will continue to give us your feedback, which is so important for our ongoing program development. If you have questions about Sierra Tucson's programs and services, please contact us at 800-842-4487. An Outreach Specialist in your area is always interested in learning more about you and your practice, so we can give appropriate referrals.

Thank you for your trust and support.

Sincerely,

Stephen Fahey, MSW, MBA
Executive Director

Sierra Tucson, established in 1983, is dually licensed as both a Special Hospital and a Behavioral Health Residential Treatment Center. Sierra Tucson blends time-tested techniques and innovative emerging methodologies to create clinically superior, patient-directed courses of treatment.