SAMHSA Announces New Chief of Staff

Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, Elinore F. McCance-Katz, M.D., Ph.D., has announced that Mary Fleming is SAMHSA's new Chief of Staff. As Chief of Staff, Ms. Fleming will assist with managing the daily operations of SAMHSA and work with the Centers and Offices to foster collaboration and promote a unified implementation of SAMHSA's mission and goals. Ms. Fleming brings a wealth of behavioral health expertise to this important role.

Mary Fleming has been providing leadership on cross-cutting program and policy issues since joining SAMHSA in 2013 as the Director of the Office of Policy, Planning, and Innovation (OPPI). Ms. Fleming later served as the Branch Chief of the National Liaison Branch within OPPI, which focused on special topics in behavioral health such as veterans and emergency response.

Prior to joining SAMHSA, Ms. Fleming was the chief executive officer of Allegheny HealthChoices, Inc., where she was responsible for fiscal, clinical, and quality oversight and reporting for the Medicaid managed behavioral health care program. In previous positions, she helped manage federal, state, and county resources and was responsible for providing services for persons with mental illness and/or substance use disorders. She served as vice president of product development and network development at a managed health care company, and as executive director at the Hamilton County, Ohio (Cincinnati) Mental Health Board. She also served as executive vice president at the Franklin County, Ohio (Columbus) Addictions and Mental Health Board. In addition, she has consulted with, and worked for, several states and counties across the nation.

Ms. Fleming possesses a master's degree in Program Evaluation and Research from Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.