Gina R. Eckart, MS LMHC

Managing Director, Behavioral Health

Health Management Associates

Indianapolis, IN

[javascript protected email address]

(317) 818-1005

Gina R. Eckart is a licensed mental health counselor with 20 years of experience in public behavioral health.

Prior to joining HMA, Gina served as the director of the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction. She was responsible for policy, funding and management of the state’s $450 million public mental health and addiction system of care, including six state psychiatric hospitals and more than 2,200 employees.

She collaborated with the Indiana Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning to improve efficiency and oversight of the Medicaid Rehabilitation Option (MRO) program, to develop a 1915i application to serve persons with serious mental illness, and to implement a successful Community Alternatives to Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities (CA-PRTF) demonstration for children with serious mental health issues. Under her leadership, the state successfully transitioned 110 individuals with intellectual disabilities from state psychiatric hospitals into community-based care, saving an estimated $15 million in the first year.

Gina served in various clinical and leadership roles at the Midtown Community Mental Health Center in Indianapolis, where she began her career as a crisis clinician. Gina managed a 24-hour crisis unit responsible for psychiatric consults within a public county hospital emergency department. Other areas of focus included development and management of a centralized intake process and creation of an information and scheduling line which reduced wait times and improved access to care. She also led expansion of center-wide quality assurance and utilization management processes.

Gina earned her master’s degree in mental health and bachelor’s degree from Indiana University. She has been an adjunct professor at the Indiana University School of Social Work and a mental health and addiction trainer for the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy and local crisis intervention team.

Gina has served on many local advisory boards and panels, including the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors and the Standards, Training and Practices Subcommittee for Lifeline — the national suicide hotline.