02/19/2026
We were grateful to welcome the UHS Behavioral Health divisional leadership team — Ethan Permenter, Leslie Stuart, John Willingham and Stan Markowksi — for an engaging and meaningful visit.
Spending time with leaders who guide our work reinforces why this mission matters. The message was clear: the client experience is at the center of everything we do and is strengthened through consistent, attentive care.
As Ethan shared, our foundation is built on three core values:
Communication. Safety improvement. Service excellence.
When we communicate clearly with patients, families, physicians, partners and our community, we support safety. When safety improves, service excellence follows, creating a supportive and compassionate experience for each person in our care.
Moments of crisis can be overwhelming for individuals and families. It is our responsibility to ensure their path toward stabilization is grounded in clarity, empathy, dignity and continuity of care.
We also reflected on the importance of empathy‑driven learning, including simulations that help us better understand symptoms related to serious mental illness. These experiences highlight how disorienting certain symptoms can be and why patience, compassion and understanding must guide every interaction.
The lived experiences shared in resources such as The Day the Voices Stopped by Ken Steele and Claire Berman also offer insight into resilience and the impact of compassionate support. This work is more than a career. It is a commitment to helping others heal, find hope and move forward.
Reducing stigma begins with us. Mental health is part of every community, and together we can continue building a culture rooted in dignity, understanding and strong service values.
We appreciate our leadership team for encouraging us to communicate effectively, think collaboratively and remain focused on delivering the best experience possible for those we serve.
Our incredible CEO, Clint Hauger, is pictured in the center.
