Mary Schohn, PhD, was awarded a Presidential Citation for impressively expanding mental health services for our nation's veterans within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) in her position as executive director of the Office of Mental Health Operations (OMHO).
After years of superb professional service in mental health leadership positions within the Department of Veterans Affairs system, Schohn was selected as the first lead for the OMHO. As executive director, she led several key initiatives: development of a process for monitoring and evaluation of mental health service outcomes; implementation of an outpatient mental health staffing model; release of the first productivity directive for mental health; leadership in mental health hiring initiatives; initiation of an interprofessional team-based care approach to outpatient mental health service delivery; and promotion of individualized evidence-based practices. Her most significant legacy was establishing a bridge of communication in mental health between VACO and veterans integrated service networks wherein a greater understanding of mental health policy was established to assist in furthering the quality improvement process in local mental health programs.