CLEVELAND – University Hospitals (UH) announces the appointment of Robert J. Ronis, MD, MPH, as first system-wide Psychiatrist-in-Chief.
In this newly created position, Dr. Ronis will be responsible for the development and coordination of patient care and clinical research across the health system as it relates to psychiatry and will continue his responsibilities as Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at UH Case Medical Center and Associate Director for the UH Neurological Institute.
As Psychiatrist-in-Chief, Dr. Ronis joins Richard A. Walsh, MD, Physician-in-Chief, Jeffrey L. Ponsky, MD, Surgeon-in-Chief, and Howard S. Nearman, MD, Anesthesiologist-in-Chief, in overseeing consistent quality standards of care across UH.
In partnership with Lori Locke, RN, MSN, Director of Psychiatry Services, Dr. Ronis will develop a formal strategic plan this fall to extend and refine the scope of inpatient psychiatric services at UH Case Medical Center, UH Richmond Medical Center and UH Geauga Medical Center and ambulatory services at the department’s home, the W.O. Walker Center. Dr. Ronis also plans to incorporate and integrate the psychiatry service needs of UH community hospitals and health centers.
Dr. Ronis graduated from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in 1982 and went on to complete his residency in internal medicine at the University of Connecticut and his residency in psychiatry at UH Case Medical Center. As a National Health Services Corps volunteer, he was the first full-time psychiatrist in southeastern Ohio, establishing an inpatient psychiatric unit, community mental health service and private practice in Marietta.
Dr. Ronis, the Douglas Danford Bond Professor of Psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at UH Case Medical Center, joined the UH staff as Director of Public Psychiatry in 1990, where he established the Public Academic Liaison (PAL) Program, a national model for teaching and clinical services in community mental health.