Joseph ("JC") Carrica

Joseph (“JC”) Carrica, III, EdD, is the chief executive officer of Southeast Health Group, which serves a six-county rural and frontier region in the southeast corner of Colorado. This outpatient organization provides integrated psychiatric care, mental health counseling, substance use disorder services, primary care, wellness and prevention services, physical therapy, vocational training and extensive peer support. Dr. Carrica has established two social enterprises for the purposes of job training and economic opportunity in the impoverished region. A fourth-generation native of southeast Colorado, Dr. Carrica earned a doctorate in interdisciplinary leadership from Creighton University and is a master’s-level counselor and certified addictions counselor. His 2014 dissertation, sponsored by both Creighton University and the University of Colorado Department of Family Medicine, focused on the referral barriers that affect the integration efforts of behavioral health and primary care in eastern Colorado. He currently serves as the past president of the Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council, the statewide membership organization for Colorado’s network of community behavioral health providers. He also serves as treasurer of Southern Colorado Healthcare Network, a board of managers made up of the chief executive officers of the nine organizations serving the 30 counties of southern Colorado: four community health centers, four community mental health centers and one hybrid organization combining both. He regularly speaks with health providers, policymakers and behavioral health students at both the statewide and national levels about rural and frontier integrated whole-health initiatives and reform.