Silver Hill Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in New Canaan, has hired Dr. John Santopietro as its president and medical director.
Santopietro is responsible for the strategic direction, program development, patient care quality, business development and overall operational oversight of the hospital.
He succeeds Dr. Sigurd Ackerman, who was president and medical director for 14 years.
Santopietro joins Silver Hill Hospital from Carolinas HealthCare System in Charlotte, a not-for-profit system serving 2.3 million patients a year across 900 care locations, including 39 hospitals in North and South Carolina, and Georgia. He held the positions of chief clinical officer of behavioral health and chairman of the department of psychiatry.
Board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, Santopietro in 2012 was president of the Connecticut Psychiatric Society, earning an award for his psychiatric response leadership during the Sandy Hook tragedy.
Silver Hill Hospital admits 3,000 adolescents and adults annually for psychiatric disorders that include addiction, pain with co-occurring addiction, depression, bipolar disorder, eating disorders and schizophrenia. The hospital specializes in co-occurring diagnosis and treatment and is an academic affiliate of the Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry.
