Vanessa Patel Named Medical Director, Behavioral Health Outpatient

Vanessa Patel, M.D., has been appointed medical director, Behavioral Health Outpatient. In this role, Patel will provide medical leadership for Outpatient Psychiatry primarily in the ambulatory setting across the Wilmington, Newark and Concord locations. She also will work in collaboration with the program director of the psychiatry residency program on resident supervision and training needs and with other Behavioral Health leadership to coordinate care for patients with outpatient needs.

Patel’s work focuses on respecting individual patient values. She emphasizes collaborative healing with patients as partners in treatment. She helps individuals let go the pursuit of perfectionism by enhancing awareness and acceptance of individual strengths/values and guiding them in mindfully taking steps towards their vision of happiness.

Although patient care has been the primary focus of her medical career, Patel includes advocacy and education as her specialized duties. She enjoys finding solutions and working to bring about change at an individual, family and community level. Not being one who shies away from a teaching opportunity, she devotes time to supervising outpatient psychiatry residents and is well involved in the didactics program.

She also leads community projects which aim to provide support for individuals who have lost a loved one to COVID-19, are survivors of COVID-19 and/or are struggling with coping through the changes during these unprecedented times.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Patel studied in numerous urban settings across the United States. A graduate of the Medical University of the Americas, she trained in Detroit, Michigan, at the Henry Ford Health System.

Patel reports to Mustafa Mufti, M.D., interim chair of the Department of Psychiatry.