2023 Health Care Champions Nurse: Angela Long

As director of behavioral health operations at Citizens Memorial Hospital, Angela Long has been a transformative figure in the Ozarks health care landscape, particularly in the realm of mental health services. Her commitment to building resources and improving processes for behavioral health patients stems from personal experience and professional dedication.

“I help in the process of building new resources for our community and surrounding areas,” Long says.

Her career at CMH spans 16 years, with roles evolving from an emergency medical tech and a nurse assistant to a registered nurse, intake coordinator and director of psychiatric services, giving her a unique perspective on the needs of patients. Long has been instrumental in the development of several key initiatives, including the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team, Behavioral Health Transitions Clinic and the Summer School-Based Counseling Program.

These programs are designed to offer immediate and continuous support to those in crisis, addressing the previously identified gap in mental health services where wait times could stretch from three to six months.

“By developing the P.E.R.T team, we were able to send a specialized group of staff to any department to help de-escalate situations and help not only those patients in crisis but also the staff within the CMH system,” Long says.

Community outreach is an important priority in her work, she says.

“I have also become known within the organization and the community as someone that can be reached out to for family, friends and employees that are in need of immediate mental health care,” she says.

Long’s involvement in professional and civic organizations is extensive, including participation in the Zero Suicide Institute, the Sho-Me-ECHO telehealth project and the Missouri Hospital Association, among others. She also has engaged in educational efforts, teaching suicide prevention to new employees and students, and organizing mental health awareness events.

Long’s professional motivation is a testament to her passion for mental health advocacy, spurred by the impact of suicide on her family at a young age. She says the loss of her cousin and uncle to suicide and the profound effect it had on her, shaped her career path toward making a tangible difference.

“I have lived my entire life with guilt, pain and heartache over this and have set out to make a change,” Long says. “These people were and are wonderful people that contributed to society and were someone’s person. They were my persons. These people, among so many others, are the reason I do what I do and continue to do my job. They are all worth love, respect and deserve to live. I will continue to do all I can to ensure behavioral health patients have someone to reach out to and have a place to go.”