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News Release

Media Contact:
Christina Chavira
Communications Specialist
530.332.5589 - office
christina.chavira@enloe.org              

Enloe Behavioral Health welcomes new medical director

CHICO, Calif., March 26, 2010 – Enloe Medical Center is pleased to announce the arrival of Psychiatrist Niraj Gupta MD, who has assumed the position of medical director at Enloe’s Behavioral Health Center. Dr. Gupta will continue to treat patients while also working to expand the behavioral-health services offered by the hospital.

“I worked with the team here and it’s very patient-oriented — I like that attitude,” Dr. Gupta says. “Enloe has comprehensive patient care, where it’s a team effort in addressing issues, a multi-disciplinary approach. Hospitals all say that, but I felt this program meant that. There aren’t the same pressures to get patients in and out.”

Dr. Gupta, 40, returns to the North State after six months in Michigan. He practiced psychiatry at Woodland Memorial Hospital in 2008 and 2009. For the previous three years, he served as director of clinical services at Herrick Memorial Hospital in Tecumseh, Mich., outside Ann Arbor. He also served as clinical director of Family Counseling and Children’s Services and a staff psychiatrist at Bixby Medical Center, both in nearby Adrian, Mich.

A native of India, Dr. Gupta received his medical degree from Patna Medical College in Patna, India, in 1995. He volunteered in hospitals run by the state of New York as well as the U.S. Veterans Administration. For his work with veterans, he received a Veterans Affairs Service Award in 1999. Dr. Gupta completed his residency at the Medical College of Virginia and is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

“I have been seeing all sorts of patients and have a balance of medication- and therapy-oriented treatments,” Dr. Gupta says. “[At Enloe Behavioral Health] we look at the overall person and get to know the patient.”

Dr. Gupta is the fourth physician to join the Enloe Medical Staff in recent weeks—especially significant considering the growing shortage of health care providers that has made the recruitment of physicians challenging nationwide. In 2009, 18 new doctors joined Enloe’s Medical Staff; and to date for 2010, 12 new doctors have either joined or committed to joining. Enloe has set a goal to recruit 50 new doctors in the next seven years. “We’re on pace to achieve that,” Physician Recruiting Manager Brett Crane says. California is projected to have a shortfall of 17,000 doctors in 2015.

About Enloe’s Behavioral Health program: Enloe Behavioral Health provides 24-hour hospital care for adults, ages 18 and up, who have been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder. The inpatient program is composed of a multidisciplinary team working with patients who are experiencing the debilitating effects of depression, anxiety, mood and thought disorders as well as psychosis. Our focal point is a comprehensive assessment and skills training, which provides patients access to a better means of coping with problems outside the hospital. For more information, visit www.enloe.org/wellness.

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Dr. Gupta  is an independent licensed practitioner who is a member of Enloe's Medical Staff and not employed by the medical center.

Enloe Medical Center is a local, nonprofit health care organization. For more information, please call 530/332-7300 or visit us online at http://www.enloe.org.   Enloe Medical Center is located at 1531 Esplanade Chico, Calif.  95926.