Speaker's Profile

Dr. Parks currently serves as Medical Director for The National Council for Mental Wellbeing (part-time) and Chief Medical Officer for firsthand (part-time) and is a Distinguished Research Professor of Science at Missouri Institute of Mental Health with the University of Missouri, St. Louis. He is the national behavioral health representative at large for The Joint Commission. He practices outpatient psychiatry at Family Health Center, a federally funded community health center established to expand services to uninsured and underinsured patients in Columbia Missouri. He previously served as the Director of Missouri MO HealthNet Division (Missouri Medicaid) in the Missouri Department of Social Services. He was also Medical Director for the Missouri Department of Mental Health in Jefferson City and the Division Director for the Division of Comprehensive Psychiatric Services.Dr. Parks has conducted research and published in the areas of implementation of evidence-based medicine, pharmacy utilization management, integration of behavioral healthcare with general healthcare, and health care policy. He has received numerous awards for improving the quality of care and leadership.