Speaker's Profile

Dr. Deborah Fernandez-Turner is deputy Chief Psychiatric Officer for Aetna, a CVS Healthcompany, where she serves as a physician-leader for behavioral health strategy, clinical quality,and access to evidence-based mental health care. A board-certified psychiatrist in both generalpsychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry, Dr. Fernandez-Turner brings deep experienceacross clinical care, public-sector health systems, managed care, and executive medicalleadership. Prior to her current role, she served as children’s medical administrator for AetnaArizona Medicaid, overseeing psychiatric medical programs for more than 400,000 children, aswell as quality management, utilization management, and medical management programs forchildren and adolescents.Throughout her career, Dr. Fernandez-Turner has focused on expanding access to patient- andfamily-centered, evidence-based behavioral health care, reducing stigma around mental illness,and strengthening systems that support the well-being of children, families, members, andcommunities. She has held administrative and clinical leadership roles across private and publicsectors in Arizona and Minnesota.Dr. Fernandez-Turner earned her undergraduate degree from New York University and hermedical degree from Nova Southeastern College of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed herpsychiatry residency at Long Island Jewish Medical Center–Hillside Hospital and her childpsychiatry fellowship at the University of Arizona. She is a Fellow of the American PsychiatricAssociation and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Child and AdolescentPsychiatry.