Silver Hill Hospital
Names New President
& Medical Director
Sigurd H. Ackerman, M.D. has been
named President and Medical Director of Silver Hill Hospital
in New Canaan, CT. In announcing the appointment, Steve Stillerman,
Board Chairman of the nationally recognized psychiatric hospital,
noted Dr. Ackerman’s
distinguished career in the practice of psychiatry. “Dr.
Ackerman brings to the Silver Hill community, to staff, patients
and families, the breadth and depth of 25 years of outstanding
leadership in clinical care, teaching, research and program
development,” Mr. Stillerman said. Dr. Ackerman replaces
Dr. Richard Frances who led the hospital as Medical Director
and President for the past six years. Dr. Frances remains on
the medical staff as Senior Medical Consultant and Director
of Public and Professional Education.
Formerly Chief Executive Officer
and President of St. Luke’s-Roosevelt
Hospital Center in New York City, Dr. Ackerman also served
as Chairman of the hospital’s Department of Psychiatry.
He is a Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia University
College of Physicians & Surgeons and has held academic
titles in psychiatry at Cornell University Medical College
and Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
In discussing his new position,
Dr. Ackerman stressed the hospital’s strengths and areas that he would like to
develop. “Silver Hill,” he said, “is known
for outstanding treatment of psychiatric disorders and substance
use disorders which very frequently—more than half the
time—occur together and are called dual disorders. The
Hospital is unusual in having the expertise to treat a very
broad spectrum of dually diagnosed patients. We see an increasing
need for this treatment in the medical community, and we are
going to emphasize it more and more.
We also want to extend the scope
of our work in helping patients and their families with the
process of recovering from an episode of illness. Upon discharge
from the hospital, many patients continue to need help with
the steps necessary to regain a full life. To achieve this,
we plan to offer more transitional support to patients, their
families and their therapists in the community.”
Dr. Ackerman concluded, “I’m
very excited about being here. Throughout its 72-year history
Silver Hill has been, and still is, on the cutting edge of
psychiatric care. The physical setting is extraordinarily
beautiful and that itself is helpful to the recovery of our
patients. The experienced staff is very dedicated and conscious
of their responsibilities towards patients and families.
The Board of Directors is an active, involved group, truly
committed to the betterment of the hospital. All of this
together makes for a first-rate facility.”
An honors graduate of Harvard College,
Dr. Ackerman received his medical degree from Tufts University
School of Medicine. He trained in psychiatry at Montefiore
Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where
for 10 years his full-time research on the effects of early
maternal separation was federally funded by National Institutes
of Mental Health (NIMH) Research Scientist Development Awards
and National Institutes of Health (NIH) research project
awards. Before joining St. Luke’s-Roosevelt
Hospital as Executive Vice President and Medical Director,
Dr. Ackerman led a clinical research unit for affective disorders
and was the Associate Director for Clinical Affairs and Research
at the Eating Disorders Institute of New York Hospital, Cornell
University Medical Center, Westchester Division.
Dr. Ackerman is a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association
and a member of numerous other scientific societies. A reviewer
for professional journals, he has published widely on his specific
research topics and clinical practice interests which include
psychopharmacology, depression, eating disorders, sleep disorders
and the treatment of dual diagnosis. Dr. Ackerman and his wife
Cecelia McCarton, MD,
a developmental pediatrician, have five children and reside
in Stamford, CT.
Established in 1931, Silver Hill Hospital is a private, not-for-profit
facility with a full range of mental health programs, including
inpatient, partial hospital, intensive outpatient and transitional
care.#
