Wayne Young has assumed the role of Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the Texas Behavioral Health Center, the first state psychiatric hospital in the Dallas-Fort Worth region. He also holds the position of Vice President of Behavioral Health Integration and Partnerships at UT Southwestern.
Young stated that he is excited to help establish the facility's culture from the beginning, noting that the center combines the university's research capabilities with the infrastructure of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
The facility admitted its first patients at the end of June. Young oversees the full range of behavioral health services provided at the center. He works alongside Tarek Rajji, the Chair of Psychiatry, and other leaders from UT Southwestern and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to expand mental health services in the Metroplex.
Young described a high-quality psychiatric hospital as the baseline expectation, adding that stopping at that level would miss a significant opportunity.
Before joining UT Southwestern, Young served as the CEO of The Harris Center for Mental Health and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Houston. In that role, he helped plan and deliver care to more than 90,000 patients annually. The Harris Center also provided services to the Harris County Jail System, which is the third-largest jail system in the United States.
Prior to that position, he worked as Senior Vice President for Behavioral Health at JPS Health Network in Fort Worth.
Young has held several advisory roles in the state. He previously chaired the Behavioral Health Advisory Council to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and served on the Joint Committee on Access and Forensic Services. In 2021, the Supreme Court of Texas appointed him to the Texas Judicial Commission on Mental Health.
