Highland Rivers Health names Franscica MgBodile, MD, Chief Medical Officer

MgBodile to replace Dr. Nizamuddin Khaja, who will remain lead medical director for agency's three crisis units

DALTON, Georgia - March 22, 2017 - Highland Rivers Health has named Franscica MgBodile, MD, a board certified psychiatrist, as the agency's chief medical officer. Mgbodile joined Highland Rivers as associate medical director in 2015, and has served as medical director of outpatient services since January 2016. As chief medical officer, Dr. MgBodile will manage the agency's medical staff of nearly two dozen psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners, while also overseeing Highland Rivers' outpatient services, intensive outpatient, women's outreach, assertive community treatment and developmental disabilities programs.
MgBodile will replace Nizamuddin Khaja, MD, as Highland Rivers' chief doctor. Dr. Khaja, who was named chief medical officer last year, will remain with the agency as lead medical director for Highland Rivers' three crisis stabilization units in Cedartown, Dalton and Rome, where he is highly regarded both among crisis staff and individuals who receive treatment.
"Dr. MgBodile and Dr. Khaja are both outstanding physicians and we are very fortunate to have them as leaders of our medical staff," said Highland Rivers CEO Melanie Dallas. "However, Dr. Khaja would rather focus on clinical practice than administrative management, and Dr. MgBodile has the perfect skill set to transition seamlessly into the chief medical officer role."
A native of Abor, Nigeria, MgBoodile graduated from University of Nigeria College of Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, in Enugu, Nigeria, and completed a four-year residency in psychiatric medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. She received post-doctoral training in child and adolescent psychiatry at University of Alabama School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Nuerobiology, where she remains on faculty as an associate professor. MgBodile is board certified in psychiatry, with a sub-specialty in child and adolescent psychiatry, by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and is licensed to practice in both Georgia and Alabama.
"Even though I have only been with the agency less than two years, Highland Rivers Health feels like home to me now," said Dr. MgBodile. "I am very excited to serve as chief medical officer and am looking forward to continuing to work closely with Dr. Khaja and all of the excellent medical staff here."
Highland Rivers Health employs a medical staff of nearly two dozen board-certified psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners, including one of the very few board-certified addictionologists in the state of Georgia. With a focus on meeting the unique needs of each individual that receives services from Highland Rivers, the agency's psychiatrists include specialists in child and adolescent, adult, family, trauma, PTSD and geriatric psychiatry, among others.

About Highland Rivers Health
Highland Rivers Health provides comprehensive treatment and support services for adults, children and families, and veterans affected by mental health disorders, intellectual developmental disabilities and addictive disease. One of the state's largest public safety net providers, Highland Rivers operates more than two-dozen treatment facilities across a 4,400-square mile area of Northwest Georgia that includes Bartow, Cherokee, Fannin, Floyd, Gilmer, Gordon, Haralson, Murray, Paulding, Pickens, Polk and Whitfield counties, and serves nearly 16,000 consumers annually. Highland Rivers is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) and is a Tier 1 safety net Core Provider for the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. For more information, visit www.highlandrivershealth.com.