Please join DMH in congratulating Dr. Yetunde Johnson, MD, on her formal appointment as the full-time DMH Statewide Medical Director. She has served in this role on an interim basis since June 2022. In this role, she provides clinical leadership for DMH's State-Operated Psychiatric Hospitals and consultation to DMH leaders, partners, and stakeholders.
Dr. Johnson has over twenty years of psychiatry experience, specializing in addiction medicine. She began her service to the State of Illinois in 2007 as a psychiatrist at Chicago Read Mental Health Center, where she was the President of the Medical Staff Organization. From 2011 - 2021, Dr. Johnson served in clinical and leadership roles at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. She returned to State service in 2021 as the Medical Director of Madden Mental Health Center.
During her ten years at the V.A., she served as the Medical Director at one of the largest methadone clinics in the V.A. system at the Jesse Brown V.A. Medical Center. In that position, she was integral to developing the naloxone distribution and education program and championed a sterile syringe program. She also actively trained and taught both addiction psychiatry and addiction medicine fellows.
Dr. Johnson is a board-certified adult psychiatrist and addictionologist. She obtained her medical degree from Ogun State University, Nigeria, and her Master's of Public Health from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She completed her training at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Missouri at Kansas City - Western Missouri Mental Health Center.
Dr. Johnson is married with two adult children. In her spare time, she volunteers with the Chicago Night Ministry, providing mental health and addiction services to people who are indigent or homeless.
Congratulations to Dr. Yetunde Johnson!
Sincerely,
David Albert, PhD
Director
