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For Immediate Release
Date: August 2, 2019
Contact: Hannah Goering
hgoering@lakecountyil.gov
(847) 377-8099
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Health Department Announces New Behavioral Health Director
Lake County, Ill.—The Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center is pleased to announce that Sam Johnson-Maurello has been appointed as its Director of Behavioral Health. For over 25 years, Johnson-Maurello has served the agency as a direct care provider and an administrator for behavioral health programs, serving as Associate Director of Behavioral Health since 2012.
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“I believe that recovery is possible. There is hope,” said Johnson-Maurello about taking on his new role. “I’m excited to be a part of the work the Health Department is doing to build a community where every person who needs help with a mental health or substance use issue can get that help.”
As Behavioral Health Director, Johnson-Maurello will enhance and improve relationships with community partners and seek new and innovative ways to expand behavioral health capacity in Lake County. His work will also include assuring that all needs of Health Department behavioral health clients are being met, including behavioral and physical health, dental, and social needs.
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Throughout his career, Johnson-Maurello’s work has often focused on underserved populations, people in crisis, and people with severe mental illness. In his previous role of Associate Director, he oversaw Outpatient Mental Health, Primary Care Behavioral Health, two Assertive Community Treatment teams, Case Management (including Mental Health and Drug Court), the Crisis Care Program and the Williams Consent Decree program with two drop-in centers. Recent areas of focus have included building capacity for behavioral health services, responding to the opioid crisis, collaborating with law enforcement, and launching a county-wide Mental Health First Aid initiative.
Johnson-Maurello has a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Trinity International University and an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. He and his husband currently live in Waukegan. He continues to be an active volunteer at the Waukegan Township Staben House and is on the board of the Lake County chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).
About the Lake County Health Department: The Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center is a county health department, a federally qualified health center (FQHC) and a direct provider of behavioral health services to residents of Lake County, Illinois. The Health Department’s mission is promoting the health and well-being of all who live, work, and play in Lake County. To accomplish this mission, the Health Department works closely with community partners to address the social, economic, and environmental causes of health inequity. For more information, visit health.lakecountyil.gov.
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