Amanda Blanco is the CEO of the Behavioral Hospital of Bellaire, who started her career with UHS as a Mental Health Technician over 10 years ago. In her tenure with UHS, she has successfully driven initiatives to convert a facility to seclusion free and started clinical trials on acute schizophrenic patients through MERCK, a research organization.

Today, she joins the show to talk about how a personal tragedy led her into the field of mental health, advice she would give to other mental health technicians, and the improvements she hopes to see in the mental health industry.

01:23 – Amanda Blanco joins the show to talk about her amazing journey from mental health technician to CEO of a hospital system

06:09 – Turning tragedy into hope

07:14 – Achieving a Bachelors & Masters degree while working at UHS and what it’s like working at Universal Health Services

09:59 – Advice Amanda would give to mental health technicians

13:24 – What’s next for Amanda

14:31 – Amanda speaks to her hope for the evolution of mental health

17:03 – Dr. Flowers thanks Amanda for joining the show and lets listeners know where they can connect with her and the Behavioral Hospital of Bellaire

“It’s funny because we talk about crossroads and how there’s a fork in our road where you really start to see which way you’re gonna go. At that time I had the interview as a mental health tech, I also had an interview as a store manager for a very big store chain. It was a lot more money, but when I did the tour at the residential treatment center for kiddos, I loved it. There was something so intriguing about it.” (05:39) (Amanda)

“I started to realize, as I got deeper into case management, that I needed to do something more extreme. I needed to be at a higher level in order to make change. The people in the trenches - the case managers, the direct care staff - they do a lot of work. But a lot of change comes from the top.” (07:54) (Amanda)

“I would not be at a company if I didn;’t share the same virtues, the same philosophy, the same everything as the President.” (09:01) (Amanda)

“Sometimes, doing jobs or taking on responsibility that goes outside of our comfort zone, that’s where you’re gonna grow. That’s what we do as humans, we grow. We grow from challenge. We grow from obstacles.” (10:47) (Amanda)

“Right now, I want to make BHB - Behavioral Hospital of Bellaire - as successful as possible. I want patients to come in and when they leave I want them to call their parents, family and friends and say, ‘I feel better.’” (13:37) (Amanda)

JFlowers Health Institute – https://jflowershealth.com/

JFlowers Health Institute Contact – (713) 783-6655

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Behavioral Hospital of Bellaire Website – https://bhbhospital.com/

**The views and opinions expressed by our guests are those of the individual and do not necessarily reflect those of J. Flowers Health Institute. Any content provided by our co-host(s) or guests are of their opinion and are not intended to reflect the philosophy and policies of J. Flowers Health Institute itself. Nor is it intended to malign any recovery method, religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual, or anyone or anything.

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