Marketa Wills, M.D., M.B.A., Named Next APA CEO and Medical Director
Abstract
Search Committee Chair Maria Oquendo, M.D., Ph.D., said Wills has demonstrated “impressive leadership in a range of areas of psychiatry with experience managing complex organizations with multiple stakeholders.”
After a nationwide search, APA’s Board of Trustees appointed Marketa Wills, M.D., M.B.A., as APA’s next CEO and medical director, effective June 1. She will be APA’s eighth medical director and the first woman and Black American to fill the role. She succeeds CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A., who assumed the role in 2013.
“I want members to know that I am a true champion of physician well-being,” said Marketa Wills, M.D., M.B.A. She will assume her new position as APA CEO and medical director on June 1.
Wills is the senior vice president and chief medical officer of Johns Hopkins Health Plans; has a clinical practice at the University of South Florida Student Health Services in Tampa, Fla.; and chairs the Standards Committee of the National Committee for Quality Assurance.
She has also been an active APA member. She is currently a member of the APA Council on Healthcare Systems and Financing and served on the Workgroup on the Future of Psychiatry in 2022-2023. In 2002, she was a member of the Board of Trustees as a SAMHSA fellow.
“As a longtime mental health advocate, I am honored to take the reins of APA at this time in our history,” said Wills in a statement. “Given where we are, with the explosion of AI, innovation, and the changing landscape of technology, I look forward to working with APA’s membership and the administration to accelerate psychiatry into the future.”
In comments to Psychiatric News, Wills said, “I am passionate about improving the mental health of all Americans, those with mental illness, and the families of those who care for them. APA has shaped me in many ways, and I am proud to give back to an organization that has given a lot to me.
“This is a watershed moment for our field,” she continued. “This post-pandemic period is one when, as a field, we have a lot to capitalize on. The pandemic created an environment in which many people became more aware and in tune with how important mental health and wellness are. It allowed a stigma that had cloaked our profession for ages to finally begin to peel away. At the same time, explosions in innovations and technology make this an exciting time. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to help position our field and profession for the future.”
APA President Petros Levounis, M.D., M.A., said in a statement that Wills “brings to APA decades of experience in driving innovation and promoting quality mental health care.” He added, “As the senior vice president and chief medical officer of Johns Hopkins Health Plans, she leads a staff of 300 employees who work on optimizing health outcomes for more than 500,000 health care plan members. She has worked in different leadership capacities in health care plans as well as in academic settings and is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She has also served on her local NAMI board and as a volunteer at her local Mental Health America affiliate.”
APA President-elect Ramaswamy Viswanathan, M.D., M.Sc., said he was thrilled that Wills would assume her new role during the start of his presidential year. “Her interest in wellness goes along with my presidential theme of lifestyle for positive mental and physical health,” he said. “Dr. Wills will be a great inspiration and role model for our diverse groups of younger members. I look forward to working together with her to advance our APA mission.”
APA’s Past CEOs & Medical Directors
It may surprise many APA members to learn that APA did not have a medical director until the 1940s. In 1944—100 years after its founding—the APA leadership began discussions regarding the appointment of a full-time leader for the Association. In May 1947, a vote of the membership established a central office under a medical director, with the assistance of a public relations officer.
In 1948, Daniel Blain, M.D., was appointed APA’s first medical director. Blain was, at the time of his appointment, chief of the Division of Psychiatry in the Veterans Administration. He set up a small office on I (Eye) Street in Washington, D.C., and began planning for the advancement of the Association in the postwar period.
Since then, the following individuals have served as medical director. The title of chief executive office (CEO) was added to the title early in the term of James Scully, M.D.
Matthew Ross, M.D. (1958-1962)
Walter Barton, M.D. (1963-1974)
Melvin Sabshin, M.D. (1974-1997)
Steven Mirin, M.D. (1997-2002)
James Sculy, M.D. (2003-2013)
Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A. (2013-2024)
Past APA President Maria Oquendo, M.D., who chaired the Search Committee, told Psychiatric News that the committee considered “a deep slate of candidates of outstanding quality.”
She said, “Dr. Wills was selected because of her committed involvement in APA in areas that look to the future, her educational background with an M.D. and an M.B.A., and her impressive leadership in a range of areas of psychiatry with experience managing complex organizations with multiple stakeholders.”
Oquendo called Wills a convener and consensus builder. “She is an excellent listener and deeply empathic,” she said. “She is also visionary and decisive, while consulting and seeking input during decision-making. Her expertise in managing mental health systems, history as a management consultant, understanding and embrace of technology, and deep understanding of managed care systems and the direction they will be taking will be tremendous assets to the organization.”
“I have had the privilege of getting to know Dr. Wills through this process,” she said. “I know that Dr. Wills is very much looking forward to this new phase of her career, serving the APA membership and growing the organization. Her talent, warmth, and collegiality will be evident from the get-go.”
In comments to Psychiatric News, Wills emphasized the importance of physician self-care and noted that she recently graduated from a 200-hour yoga teacher training. She said she incorporates yoga and meditation into her clinical practice.
“We have a burden on our shoulders caring for people with mental illness, Wills said. “I am passionate about us as practitioners finding our own balance ourselves. I want members to know that I am a true champion of physician well-being.” ■
