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NZINGA A. HARRISONCHIEF MEDICAL OFFICERDr. Harrison is Chief Medical Officer at Anka Behavioral Health, Inc. As a physician with specialties in Adult Psychiatry, Community Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, Dr. Harrison provides leadership and management for current and expanding medical services at Anka. Dr. Harrison is Board Certified in both General Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. As Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Harrison reports directly to the CEO. She manages the medical staff and provides strategic oversight for development of medical programs. She holds the executive level responsibility for Quality Management through direct oversight of the department's VP.
Prior to joining Anka, Dr. Harrison spent seven (7) years with the DeKalb Community Service Board and progressed from staff Psychiatrist to Director of the Addictive Disease Service. As part of her role, she designed and implemented a 28-Day Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Program for homeless Veterans that received initial CARF accreditation with zero recommendations, placing the program in the top 2% of programs reviewed by that CARF surveyor. In addition, Dr. Harrison served as a Crisis Intervention Training instructor for Atlanta Police Department where the curriculum slides she authored continue to be utilized in ongoing trainings. Dr. Harrison serves as Campaign Psychiatrist for Let’s Get Mentally Fit, a stigma-reduction, public education campaign that champions mental well-being. She is also Co-Founder of Physicians for Criminal Justice Reform, Inc., a national organization of physicians and allied members that raise awareness of the bi-directional relationship between health and criminal justice involvement. She has served on several Board of Directors including Breakthru House, Inc., a long-term residential substance abuse treatment facility for homeless women; Child Scholars, Inc., an organization that educates children in the poorest part of Lagos, Nigeria; and currently as Vice-Chairman of the Board for Physicians for Criminal Justice Reform, Inc. Dr. Harrison is retained as an expert consultant to the Southeastern Addiction Technology Transfer Center to design educational materials for primary care physicians and dentists regarding the evaluation and treatment of substance use disorders in primary care settings, and has published extensively within numerous publications and professional Journals, as well as served as Keynote speaker for numerous Conferences. Dr. Harrison received her Bachelor’s Degree from Howard University and her Doctorate of Medicine degree from the University of Pennsylvania – School of Medicine, followed by the completion of her residency in General Adult Psychiatry at Emory University. Dr. Harrison is wife to a stock market day trader, and mother to two tween-age sons, both of whom are musicians and competitive swimmers. In her spare time she loves to travel with family and friends. |
" In a time of significant change in the delivery of healthcare, Anka provides an opportunity for medical staff to truly be part of an interdisciplinary team serving the most vulnerable of citizens. It is an opportunity I treasure. "