Ross Van Vranken is the outgoing executive director for the Huntsman Mental Health Institute (HMHI), formerly UNI, with the University of Utah Health. HMHI is a $180 million gross enterprise, supporting a system of behavioral health care anchored by a 170-bed acute psychiatric and substance use hospital. HMHI services all ages, disorders, and socioeconomic groups.
Mr. Van Vranken’s primary role has been to ensure HMHI’s commitment to providing the highest standard of care across the full continuum of behavioral health services, which includes outpatient specialty programs and crisis diversion services. He has been responsible for assuring the integration between clinical care, education, research, and maintaining HMHI’s standing as a community leader in the area of behavioral health.
Mr. Van Vranken has been a leader in behavioral health dating back to the early 1980s. He is an active participant in clinical and service delivery at both the regional and national level.
Mr. Van Vranken has been the director of the university’s mental and behavioral health hospital and services since 1991. First as the director of the Western Institute of Neuropsychiatry (WIN), then when WIN was renamed the University Neuropsychiatry Institute (UNI) in 1994, and again when UNI became HMHI in January 2021.
Prior to this, Mr. Van Vranken served in a variety of clinical and administrative capacities in both the private sector and for the University Hospital. He is a native of Utah receiving his undergraduate degree in psychology and master’s degree in social work from the University of Utah.
