Dr. Joe Parks, Ph.D

At The National Council for Mental Wellbeing

Dr. Parks is a practicing psychiatrist and state policymaker. He has a track record for translating clinical experience in mental and substance use disorders into patient-centered policy recommendations and state of the science behavioral health treatment programs. With the addition of Dr. Parks, the National Council expands its capacity to serve its members and the nearly 40 million Americans who experience mental illness or addiction each year.

Previous Experience
In his home state of Missouri, Dr. Parks served as Director of Missouri Division of Comprehensive Psychiatric Services and Missouri Medicaid Director. Dr. Parks led the development of the nation’s first approved Medicaid state plan amendment for health care homes for people with serious mental illness. He then expanded the concept to community mental health centers and federally qualified health centers.

He continues to serve as a professor at the Missouri Institute of Mental Health and maintains his clinical psychiatry practice on an outpatient basis at Family Health Center. Family Health Center is a federally-funded community health center expanding services to uninsured and underinsured patients in central Missouri.