Dr. Jerald Block has been hired as the new medical director of the Lincoln Community Health Center, supervising medical providers in primary care, school-based health centers, behavioral health, maternal child health, and immunizations.
The board certified psychiatrist had been working in a temporary capacity with Lincoln County since last fall.
“My plan is to continue operations of the medical center and the health system in general while finding ways to improve services,” he said in a news release announcing his hiring.
Block will oversee clinical operations at eight sites across the county, including student health clinics in four high schools.
He has worked as a medical director at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Portland, a clinical faculty member at Oregon Health and Science University and as a clinical psychiatrist in private practice. He is a lieutenant colonel in the U. S. Army Reserve and has been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq.
Although his career has been focused on psychiatry, Block believes he is more than ready to oversee primary care and other services focused on physical care.
“My perspective is that I am a physician, trained to look at the body and the mind,” Block said. “I’m comfortable with discussing and overseeing both aspects of medical care. At a time when we are trying to have less of a division between mental health and physical treatment, I see this as a positive change that will be reflected in the health system.”
