Gary Larcenaire

Gary Larcenaire was born and raised in New England, and has since moved around the country following his passion to improve healthcare systems. He was inspired to get involved in this line of work because he saw its shortcomings first hand. A close family member suffers from mental illness and Gary felt they didn’t get the treatment deserved. This experience, coupled with his passion to find solutions, inspired him to dive into the world of healthcare and advocate for better mental health treatment and practices.He studied at Angelo State University from 1985 to 1994. In his undergraduate he completed his BA in Psychology with honors. Gary then went on to pursue his Master’s of Public Administration, minoring in government and taking advanced business classes along the way. He didn’t want to just know how to treat mental illness, he wanted to know how to shape a better system.In the winter of 1990, Gary began his career as a case manager in Big Spring, Texas. While working in this system, now known as the “West Texas Centers”, Gary finished his degree. He earned his 5 year-stripe in direct care and worked his way to become director of the unit he started with. Gary was then recruited to serve as CEO of what is now Emergence Health Network and was the Founding President/CEO of Sun City Behavioral. Gary currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer for Valley Behavioral Health in Salt Lake City Utah.Years of experience made one thing crystal to Gary. That too many medical systems today rely on marketing healthcare innovation, rather than actually innovating. He believes that healthcare systems must live up to their own hype or they risk falling behind, or even worse, failing their patients. It’s time to move HCI initiatives from concept marketing into public relations, information technology, and healthcare logistics departments. This is where concepts will be tested and refined.Gary believes that healthcare systems can be organized in such a way that emotional and social determinants of health are as integral a part of the diagnostic assessment and treatment process, as lab, radiology, oncology, and pharmacy. This website and series of blogs outlines his thoughts, passions, and experience with shaking up the way we can address integrated healthcare