Behavioral health provider hires hospital medical director

Behavioral health provider hires hospital medical director

David Folks. Photo via nh.gov/James Weaver

Ending a nationwide search, a local behavioral health provider has found its new hospital medical director.

Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services said last week it has appointed psychiatrist Dr. David Folks as medical director of the hospital programs at Pine Rest.

Folks will oversee operations at the hospital, which has 200 inpatient beds with an additional 26 beds to be added in June, as well as three partial hospitalization programs.

“Dr. Folks is very knowledgeable and has had an impeccable career of accomplishment and performance,” said Alan Armstrong, chief medical officer, Pine Rest. “He is known for his leadership skills, demonstrative tolerance, having a non-judgmental approach, exhibiting flexibility and demonstrating optimism in problem solving. He is collaborative and compassionate.”

Folks’ background

Board certified in general psychiatry and geriatric psychiatry, Folks most recently served as chief medical officer at New Hampshire Hospital in Concord, a teaching facility for the Dartmouth University Geisel School of Medicine, where Folks also taught psychiatry.

Folks has published more than 75 peer-reviewed articles, more than 30 book chapters and co-authored two books in the field of psychiatry.

A native of Oklahoma, Folks received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Oklahoma State University. He completed his medical degree and residency in internal medicine at Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center, before completing a general psychiatry residency and fellowship in psychosomatic psychiatry at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee.

Pine Rest

Founded in Grand Rapids in 1910, Pine Rest is one of the largest free-standing behavioral health providers in the nation.

Pine Rest offers a wide breadth of behavioral health services: inpatient and partial hospitalization, residential and outpatient services, addiction treatment and recovery and more.

In addition to its main Grand Rapids campus, Pine Rest has 16 outpatient locations throughout West Michigan and Iowa.