Board of Mental Health Names Leadership Roles for FY23
July 1, 2022 (Jackson, Miss.) – The Mississippi Board of Mental Health has named new leadership roles for the state fiscal year that began July 1, 2022. Dr. Sampat Shivangi of Ridgeland has been named Chair and Stewart Rutledge of Oxford has been named Vice Chair.
Shivangi was first appointed to the Board in 2009 by Gov. Haley Barbour and reappointed in 2016 by Gov. Phil Bryant. He also currently serves on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Center for Mental Health Services National Advisory Council. Rutledge is a licensed attorney, but his primary work is in real estate development, with a focus on developing affordable housing. He is also a family member of an individual who receives mental health services.
During his time on the Board of Mental Health, Shivangi has previously served as Chair, as well as numerous years serving on the Patient Care Subcommittee. He has taken an active role in efforts to promote suicide awareness and prevention, particularly those efforts related to postpartum depression awareness and treatment. In addition to his time on the Board of Mental Health, Shivangi previously served on the Mississippi State Board of Health. From 2005 to 2008, he served as Advisor to the US Secretary of Health and Human Services in the President George W. Bush administration. He is the founding president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin in Mississippi and is the past president and chair of the India Association of Mississippi.
Prior to his focus on real estate development, Rutledge served as corporate counsel to Sta-Home Healthcare, Mississippi’s largest home health provider. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Mississippi, enrolled in the University of Mississippi Medical School, but instead decided to attend the University of Mississippi Law School, from which he graduated with honors.
In addition to his service on the Board of Mental Health, Rutledge previously served as Chairman of the Mississippi Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee, and he served on the Mississippi Supreme Court’s Commission on Juveniles. He also served as Mississippi’s representative on the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice in Washington, D.C. Additionally, Rutledge served as board member and general counsel for the Mississippi Freedom 50th, advising Congressman Bennie Thompson and former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Reuben Anderson in efforts to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Freedom Riders.
Shivangi represents the physician category on the Board of Mental Health and Rutledge represents the First Congressional District. The board is composed of nine members appointed by the governor of Mississippi and confirmed by the State Senate. Members’ terms are staggered to ensure continuity of quality care and professional oversight of services. By statute, the nine-member board is composed of a physician, a psychiatrist, a clinical psychologist, a social worker with experience in the field of mental health, and one citizen representative from each of Mississippi’s five congressional districts as existed in 1974.