The Department of Psychiatry at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine is seeking a residency-trained, board certified/board eligible Assistant Professor, Associate Professor or Professor. The successful candidate must be committed to excellence in clinical care as well as teaching, administration, and professional development. Preferred experience includes previous experience in providing psychiatric services, as well as experience in teaching medical students, residents, and other health professionals.
This position will serve as the Medical Director and provide a wide range of psychiatric services to adults at Eastern State Hospital, managed by UK Healthcare. This 300,000 square foot, 239 bed facility, which opened in September 2013, offers an extensive range of inpatient mental health services to adults living within the 50 counties surrounding and including Fayette County. Eastern State Hospital provides recovery-focused, individualized care in a supportive environment that features the latest in mental health treatment. To learn more about Eastern State Hospital, visit the website at
http://ukhealthcare.uky.edu/ESH/.
This position will also serve as the Medical Director of UK HealthCare's new EmPATH unit which opened on the campus of Eastern State Hospital in June 2024. EmPATH (Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment and Healing) is the first of its kind in Kentucky and one of only around 30 in the country. EmPATH is designed to be a therapeutic environment for treating behavioral health crises, serving as an alternative to sending a person in crisis to the emergency department. Open 24/7, EmPATH has its own easy-to-access entrance and a capacity of 12-16 chairs. Patients can stay up to 23 hours. UK HealthCare is leasing the space and will be responsible for staffing and operating the unit. The goal of EmPATH is to decompress emergency departments and inpatient units and promote better outcomes through rapid treatment access in the safest setting. This also allows us to continue building out a continuum of services.
https://ukhealthcare.uky.edu/services/empathThe Department of Psychiatry is comprised of a diverse team of highly skilled clinicians and staff working together to create a Culture of Health. A Culture of Health is based on the premise that “everyone has the opportunity to live a healthier life” and that as a community “we must work together to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to make healthy choices.”
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation The Department of Psychiatry is using this framework to harness the power of academic medicine to deliver cutting-edge clinical services with the expertise derived from robust community engagement to provide a platform for educating and training the future leaders of psychiatry. Our work is only as good as the impact we make on the community we live in. The Department of Psychiatry at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine strives to provide the highest level of patient care, innovative educational programs, active research in mental illness and advocacy throughout the state of Kentucky and beyond. These pursuits have helped the department win the American College of Psychiatrists’ Award for Creativity in Psychiatric Education not once, but twice.
The Department employs physicians, psychologists, therapists and other mental health professionals to provide a wide variety of behavioral health and substance use treatment services at multiple locations. Our clinicians provide care at our UK Psychiatric & Behavioral Health Care Clinic at Fountain Court - Lexington, KY, Albert B. Chandler Hospital - Lexington, KY, Good Samaritan Hospital - Lexington, KY, Eastern State Hospital - Lexington, KY as well as various other clinics and departments throughout the UK HealthCare system and outside organizations throughout Kentucky. Our team of researchers are working to advance the understanding of behavioral health and how behavioral health conditions are managed and treated. Our department has five ACGME-certified residency training programs which focus on training more than 50 physicians each year to become the future leaders in psychiatry.
The Department of Psychiatry’s administrative, education and research offices are located near the Hamburg area of Lexington at 245 Fountain Ct., Lexington, KY, 40509. This off-campus location provides free onsite parking for employees and patients as well as a primary care/urgent care clinic and retail pharmacy that is accessible for both patients and employees.
Forbes magazine announced in February 2023 that it ranked the University of Kentucky sixth out of 500 total companies on its America’s Best Large Employers list. UK is listed second nationally in the education category. The University of Kentucky provides a comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, and insurance benefits, a competitive 2:1 retirement match up to 5% of an employee’s base salary, discounts to local, regional and national businesses, paid vacation and temporary disability leave (sick time) and 14 paid holidays each year. For additional information on University of Kentucky’s benefits, please visit
https://hr.uky.edu/insurance-and-retirement.
If you are interested in joining our team to help transform the behavioral health system of care in the Lexington area and throughout Kentucky, please consider applying for this position.
To be considered an applicant for the position, please submit a CV and cover letter along with application. Please also include the names and contact information for three references when prompted in the application. This information may be used to solicit reference letters within the employment system.
Applications will be reviewed immediately and will continue until the position is filled.
