The Mental Health Association of Westchester congratulates Chief Executive Officer Charlotte Ostman, LCSW-R, who recently received a 2020 Women in Business Award from 914INC. This award recognizes executives and entrepreneurs who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and have made a lasting impact in their respective industries. 

Read the article from 914 Inc:

While nonprofit executives have spent the year strategizing their survival, Charlotte Ostman, CEO of The Mental Health Association of Westchester (MHA), has faced a different challenge: rapid growth. The White Plains-based organization’s annual budget has grown from $18 million to almost $30 million in just three years. But a mental health agency’s success is not measured in dollars and cents. Critical to mental healthcare is reach and accessibility, and MHA has nearly doubled its number of clinics, increased satellite locations and school-based programs, and made the move to telehealth — before the advent of the pandemic. Being ahead of the game with its capacity for virtual visits, plus the development of electronic health records and patient portals, has improved access for the people MHA supports and has made their experiences efficient, less intrusive, and respectful, says Ostman, who came to MHA in 2015 as the chief strategy officer before taking over the CEO spot in 2017. Ostman maintains a strong belief in MHA’s holistic approach to treating mental health. “I believe you can’t separate things like addiction and mental health or, for that matter, physical and mental wellness. We set out to create an agency that can treat the whole person,” she says. Though regulatory agencies rarely let a program do all of those things under one roof, Ostman didn’t let that stop her. “People who know me know that I like a challenge,” she explains. Today, MHA treats mental health and addiction and coordinates physical healthcare, as well.

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Photo courtesy of Ken Gabrielsen