VERO BEACH — Dr. Erwin Ramos has been appointed Clinical Assistant Professor of Community and Public Psychiatry at the University of Florida Center for Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine in Vero Beach. In addition to delivering patient care, he will supervise the training of medical fellows in community psychiatry at the UF Center.
Dr. Ramos completed his psychiatric residency at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in New York. He moved to Vero Beach in 2010 to accept a one-year fellowship in Community and Public Psychiatry at the UF Center which was funded by local philanthropists, Debbie and Champ Sheridan. The fellowship experience focused on providing and coordinating psychiatric care for underserved populations at a variety of public and nonprofit providers throughout Indian River County.
“The goals of a community psychiatrist go beyond providing traditional outpatient care,” Dr. Ramos said. “My role is to also help patients access the care they need for successful recovery no matter where those services are provided. This requires an in-depth understanding of our community’s continuum of mental health care and the ability to help patients navigate an often confusing system.”
Through this new appointment, Dr. Ramos will have the opportunity to continue seeing patients at the UF Center, as well as the Mental Health Association and the Indian River County Public Health Department. The ability to connect with patients in a variety of settings is critical for a community psychiatrist, Dr. Ramos said.
“I appreciate the opportunity to bring the expertise of the University of Florida to different locations in our community,” Dr. Ramos said, “and I look forward to finding new ways to develop this outreach service to help even more underserved populations.”
The UF Center for Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine was established by a group of Indian River County philanthropists in 2009 in response to a nationwide shortage of psychiatrists. The goal of the UF Center is to attract, train and retain the next generation of psychiatrists and addiction medicine physicians to the Treasure Coast. To date, four physicians have completed fellowships, with two additional students currently in the program. Since opening, 2,163 patients have been treated at the UF Center for a variety of mental health issues ranging from chronic depression and anxiety to bipolar disorder and substance abuse. Patient visits total 11,921.
The UF Center is located at 840 37th Place, Suite D in Vero Beach. For more information contact Dr. Creelman at (772) 794-0179 or [email protected].
