New Clinical Director for Behavioral Health

Health care reform is coming and Dr. Michael Krelstein couldn’t be happier.

Why? The new clinical director of County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) Behavioral Health Services division believes healthcare reform will lead to easier access to mental health and substance abuse treatment programs.

“This is a great time to be in health care. With the broadening of health care, accessibility is going to increase and there is going to be more parity for mental health, as well as alcohol and drug treatment programs,” said Krelstein. “This is a great time for creativity and the creation of new partnerships that will result in more services to benefit more people.”

As clinical director of BHS, Dr. Krelstein, 47, is now overseeing the planning and directing of countywide and regional behavioral health programs and services, which serve more than 70,000 children and adults every year. Dr. Krelstein is also a member of HHSA’s Clinical Leadership Group, which is working to advance Live Well San Diego, the County’s ongoing initiative to improve the overall health and wellbeing of area residents.

Dr. Krelstein brings an impressive resume to his new position. Over the past seven years, he has provided exemplary medical and clinical leadership to the County Psychiatric Hospital.

Before arriving in San Diego, Krelstein held a clinical leadership role in Las Vegas and worked in emergency and outpatient psychiatry in the Bay Area.  

He received his psychiatric training at UC San Francisco and is board certified in both general and forensic psychiatry.   He is a recognized expert in a range of forensic and medical-legal topics and has received several U.S. Congressional awards for his work with law enforcement.

Dr. Krelstein said he is very excited and enthusiastic about his new position.

“The challenge will be how to design services that offer the best quality of care to the most number of people in a cost-effective way,” Krelstein said. “That will require more partnerships between the public and private sectors.”