Recognition of Dr. Melinda “Mindy” Asbury
The new location of MFS is an outstanding facility for delivery of mental health and counseling services. It is one that people outside of our region have looked upon with envy as it nears completion. It presents an opportunity to build out the services offered such as telecounseling, child psychiatry and medically assisted treatment. This reinvention of mental healthcare delivery for the Monadnock Region has attracted new professional talent to our community as well.
I want to introduce and welcome Dr. Melinda “Mindy” Asbury, who since August 15, 2023, serves as the first chief medical officer at Monadnock Family Services and also serves as Cheshire Medical Center’s Chairwomen of Psychiatry. Before beginning her career in medicine, Mindy was an officer in the United States Navy for five years during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Subsequently, she earned her Doctor of Medicine (MD) from Marshall University School of Medicine in Huntington, WV and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in neuro-toxicology and neuro-pharmacology from the University of Kentucky and Marshall University. Her Ph.D. dissertation focused on how methamphetamine use causes severe toxicity within the brain. She completed training in Psychiatry at Duke University Medical School, where she specialized in the treatment of adults and adolescents with severe mental illness, such as those with psychotic disorders like schizophrenia.
- completed a Fellowships in Addiction Science and Policy at the University of Amsterdam’s Academic Medical Center, in Amsterdam the Netherlands.
- completed a Fellowship in Electroconvulsive Therapy, at Duke University, which is a specialized and most effective treatment for severe depression and severe psychosis. There are only ~5 other people trained in this technique in New Hampshire.
- prior to coming to Keene, she served as the Medical Director the highly-regarded University of North Carolina Assertive Community Treatment Team of professionals who go into the community to provide care to the most vulnerable populations, such as homeless individuals. This is also known as “street psychiatry”. Dr. Asbury’s team was ranked the #1 team in North Carolina and regarded as a top 5 team in the United States for which she was higher honored.
Since arriving in Keene August 15, 2023
- appointed as an “Expert Member” for the Serious Mental Illness Advisor Network, a world-wide expert network funded by the US federal government that offers timely and free expert consultation to mental healthcare providers
- selected as New Hampshire’s expert Psychiatrist for Dartmouth’s consultation team that will train mental healthcare providers across New Hampshire how to care for and treat adolescents and young adults who are experiencing early symptoms of psychosis.
- started a specialty clinic at MFS for the treatment of opioid use disorder
I want to congratulate MFS Director Phil Wysik on the improvements being made at Monadnock Family Service and the staffing improvements he’s been able to make, as he and Dr. Asbury work to expand access to mental healthcare in our community.