Westchester commissioner of community mental health named

Neuropsychologist Mark Herceg has been appointed Westchester County commissioner of community mental health, County Executive Robert P. Astorino announced. The Irvington resident will begin his new duties Feb. 2, filling a vacancy left by the resignation of Dr. Grant Mitchell as commissioner in 2013.

Newly appointed Westchester County Commissioner of Community Mental Health Mark Herceg, left, with County Executive Robert P. Astorino.

Herceg currently is director of neuropsychology at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains and a professor of psychology in clinical neurology at Weill-Cornell Medical College. He is a member of the medical school”™s concussion clinic, consulting with schools and amateur and professional athletes who have suffered concussions, according to Astorino”™s office. Herceg is also a consultant psychologist to Silver Hospital in New Canaan, Conn.

The community mental health department plans, oversees and coordinates services for individuals with mental illness, developmental disabilities and substance abuse disorders and their families.

Astorino also announced Michael Orth will be promoted to deputy commissioner of community mental health. Currently Orth is second deputy commissioner with the department, which he joined in 1993.

Astorino credited Orth with leading the effort to incorporate the nationally recognized Youth Mental Health First Aid course and evidence-based suicide prevention training as part of Safer Communities, the county executive”™s initiative that focuses on violence and its causes as a public health issue.

Astorino in the announcement thanked Westchester County Health Commissioner Dr. Sherlita Amler for leading the community mental health department during the search for Mitchell”™s replacement.