This year’s symposium will tackle the most pressing challenges facing behavioral health care professionals and offer insights into complying with California’s shifting policies.
Explore the issues keeping behavioral health care professionals up at night and learn innovative ways to connect patients to community-based care. Sessions will cover nursing ratios, perinatal mental health, EmPATH, co-responder models, and building effective partnerships with local agencies.
We will also examine the intersection of behavioral health and emergency department challenges, making this a valuable event for the entire patient care team. Join us. This opportunity only comes once a year.
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. | Check in, Registration, and Lunch
Victor Lopez, High Threat Response Team Coordinator, Ontario Fire Department
See how San Bernardino County developed a crisis response model that’s one of the first of its kind in the nation. The Community Outreach and Support Team (COAST) model uses a multidisciplinary team, including a therapy canine, to provide residents with rapid access to crisis triage in a non-threatening manner that in one year diverted 99 percent of crisis encounters from unnecessary hospitalizations and holds. Hear from frontline professionals as they share strategies for successfully offering an effective alternative to hospital EDs.
El Camino Hospital Speakers tbd
The perinatal mental health crisis affects one in three California women during pregnancy and in the first two years after birth – but most women do not receive treatment. El Camino Health, which operates one of only five perinatal inpatient psychiatric units in the entire country, will describe its continuum of care for women and new moms who are experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety disorders, and postpartum psychosis. Learn about the important role hospitals play in addressing perinatal mental health.
3:00 – 3:30 p.m. | Break
Speakers tbd
Join this panel discussion to hear the next-on-the-radar challenges that keep behavioral health care leaders up at night, and the steps these hospital and community leaders are taking to prepare for the challenges that lie ahead.
4:45 – 5:00 p.m. | Pass Through to Reception
5:00 – 6:00 p.m. | Reception
7:30 – 8:30 a.m. | Continental Breakfast
Unfortunately, patients in psychiatric crisis typically wait nearly three times longer in the ED than patients with general medical conditions. Hear how three California hospitals have employed innovative strategies to achieve measurable results and help get patients to the right level of care more quickly. Presenters will share keys to their success, tips for gaining support for innovative initiatives, and offer practical insights to help reduce psychiatric boarding in the ED.
Angelica Almeida, Ph.D.
Chief Integration Officer
Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital
Angelica Almeida, Ph.D. is the Chief Integrative Officer at Zuckerberg San FranciscoGeneral Hospital and Trauma Center. She is a clinical psychologist with an expertise in complex trauma and serious mental illness in both community based and forensic settings. Dr. Almeida is responsible for overseeing behavioral health services within Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, including Psychiatric Emergency Services, Psychiatric Inpatient Units, Mental Health Rehabilitation Center, and community behavioral health services at the hospital.
Melissa Freitas, LMFT
Director, Crisis Response and Intake
Sutter Behavioral Health Services Melissa Freitas, LMFT, is a behavioral health director at Sutter Health, trauma specialist, and speaker with more than 15 years of experience in mental health and crisis response. She presents health care teams, state agencies, mental health organizations, and first responders on trauma, behavioral health, and crisis care. She also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco, teaching trauma and crisis counseling, law, and ethics.
Joseph Lyon, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC
Psychosomatic Medicine Service
Stanford Health Care
Joseph Lyon is a dually board-certified nurse practitioner with extensive experience in consult-liaison psychiatry. He’s been employed by the Division of Medical Psychiatry with Stanford Healthcare since 2017. His current role includes emphasis in the treatment of patients with advanced cancer and psychiatric comorbidities along with work in the psychiatric emergency department. His scholarly work includes numerous local and national peer-reviewed podium presentations and guest lectures. Joe has always advocated for advanced practice providers in medical psychiatry.
10:00 – 10:30 a.m. | Break and Vendor Visits
This session will guide health care professionals through the patient journey from substance use screening in the acute care setting and treatment initiation to referral navigation and ongoing support. Attendees will explore practical strategies to support reimbursement and OBBBA-related changes, reduce ED utilization, reduce stigma, and facilitate warm handoffs to CA Bridge Connect, county access lines, and other local treatment and recovery resources.
LaToya Mitchell, MACLP
Senior Navigator Project Manager
LaToya brings more than 10 years of direct care experience and leadership in safety-net opioid use disorder treatment, along with experience with routine opt-out screening for sexually transmitted infections in the ED setting. Her work prioritizes under-resourced communities, and past roles include MAT Substance Use Counselor, Substance Use Navigator, and Clinic Manager in rural Kern County. LaToya holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University and is working toward MFT/PCC licensure.
Aimee Moulin, MD
Bridge Center Founder, Principal Investigator
Dr. Aimee Moulin is a Professor at UC Davis Medical Center in the Department of Emergency Medicine. She is Chief of the Division of Addiction Medicine. Dr. Moulin has a dual appointment in the Department of Emergency Medicine and Psychiatry. She has a Master’s in Applied Science and completed a fellowship in Quality Safety and Comparative Effectiveness Research through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality with a focus on acute care treatment for patients with behavioral health disorders.
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Hosted Lunch and Raffle
Speakers tbd
California’s new nurse-to-patient staffing ratios for acute psychiatric hospitals took effect June 1, raising concerns about behavioral health care access and workforce turnover. Hear how hospitals are responding to expected, and unexpected, challenges.
Sutter Health’s senior counsel and chair of behavioral health services join our returning EMTALA/LPS Act panelists for a discussion of how a large, multi-county health system has navigated local variation and developed consistent, defensible practices when treating patients in crisis. Topics to be addressed include stacked holds, medical admission, incapacity and dementia considerations, and voluntary patient challenges.
Daniel Briggs
Senior CounselSutter Health
Daniel Briggs is a Senior Counsel at Sutter Health, working at the intersection of enterprise risk, regulatory law, and operations, with significant involvement in behavioral health matters. Joining Sutter in 2021, Briggs previously served in various capacities in the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps and the non-profit sector. Prior to joining Sutter, Mr. Briggs served as the senior in-house counsel for U.S. Air Force medical centers in the western region, including the Air Force’s largest inpatient medical facility.
Linda Garrett, JD
Partner
Garrett Law, LLP
Linda Garrett has been providing risk management services to public entity healthcare facilities and providers for more than 30 years. She trains healthcare providers on a variety of medical/legal topics including consent, mandated reporting, involuntary mental health treatment, and federal and state medical confidentiality laws. Prior to working as a risk manager, Ms. Garrett practiced as a medical malpractice defense attorney for a law firm in San Francisco, California. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California School of Law, San Francisco.
Alicia Macklin, Esq.
Partner
Hooper, Lundy & Bookman PC
Ms. Macklin is a trusted advisor to a range of inpatient and outpatient behavioral health care providers, along with hospitals and health systems. She has counseled many of California’s hospitals on unsettled areas of law, with an emphasis on compliance with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). Her work with providers includes advising on licensing and accreditation, Medicare and Medi-Cal reimbursement, federal and state privacy and confidentiality requirements, and operational issues. She also helps California providers navigate voluntary and involuntary treatment under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (LPS Act).
Mike Phillips, JD
Senior Director of Patient Advocacy and Housing Services
Jewish Family Service of San Diego
Mike Phillips provides instruction and training for the behavioral health community, including providing information on due process rights for individuals receiving behavioral health treatment throughout the County of San Diego. He also oversees permanent supportive housing programs throughout the Coachella Valley, and safe parking programs throughout San Diego County. He is currently consulting at the state level on behavioral health reform, including participation in the statewide Behavioral Health Action Coalition, and provides local and statewide law enforcement training on behavioral health issues.
Matthew White, MD
Chair, Behavioral Health Service Line
Sutter Health
Trained in both Internal Medicine and Psychiatry, Dr. Matthew White joined Sutter in 2022 after clinical, leadership and teaching appointments in both academic and public psychiatry. Prior to Joining Sutter, Dr. White served as the County Behavioral Health Director at Contra Costa Health Services and the Medical Director across behavioral health, hospital and clinics and detention. Prior to his time at Contra Costa, Dr. White was academic faculty at Stanford University where he worked in the depression clinic and initiated a primary care behavioral health integration program.
Tuition
Early Bird Members: $399*
Early Bird Associate Members and Government Entities: $399*
Early Bird Nonmembers: $1,000*
*Early bird pricing expires on November 13, 2026.
Members: $499
Associate Members and Government Entities: $499
Nonmembers: $1,100
Members are CHA member hospitals. Nonmembers are non-hospital health care providers, clinics, and post-acute facilities that serve hospitals. Education programs and publications are a membership benefit and are not available to eligible non-member California hospitals.
Cancellation Policy
A $75 non-refundable processing fee will be retained for each cancellation. Cancellations must be made in writing 7 or more days prior to the scheduled event and emailed to education@calhospital.org. No refunds will be made after these dates. Substitutions are encouraged. In the unlikely event that the program is canceled, refunds will be issued to paid registrants within 30 days.
Confirmations
A confirmation will be sent to all registrants. On-site registrations and any unpaid registrations may be subject to an additional 10% fee.
Special Accommodations
If you require special accommodations pursuant to the American’s with Disabilities Act please call (916) 552-7637.
Photography
CHA will photograph this event. If you prefer not to be photographed, please email CHA Education.
Quality Assurance/Grievance
The CHA education quality assurance/grievance policy is available upon request by emailing rthomason@calhospital.org. If you have any concerns or dissatisfaction with the quality of a CHA education program, please contact Robyn Thomason, Vice President, Education at (916) 552-7514, or email rthomason@calhospital.org.
Questions?
Contact the CHA Education Department.
Riverside Convention Center
3637 Fifth Street
Riverside, California 92501
(951) 346-4700
The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa
3469 Mission Inn Ave.
Riverside, CA 92501
Book Online
The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa has rooms available at a discounted rate of $225. For reservations, call (951) 784-0300 extension 850 and mention code “Behavioral Health Care Symposium” or book online. Don’t delay; the deadline for discounted sleeping rooms is November 13, 2026.
If you would like to sponsor the Behavioral Health Care Symposium, contact Lisa Hartzell at lhartzell@calhospital.org.