About Mind OC
Community Coalition to Meet Orange County’s Mental Health Care Challenge
Mind OC, doing business as Be Well Orange County, was established in 2017 as a California 501C3 non-profit, and aims to transform care for all Orange County residents experiencing mental health and substance use disorders. There was widespread recognition that the existing model was ineffective, leaving too many people without the care they need to address their behavioral health needs. Doing business as Be Well Orange County (OC), the organization exists to advance the Be Well OC movement on behalf of public and private partners, and for the whole community.
Access to mental health care is one of the most significant challenges in public health in Orange County. In 2017, a group of committed public and private sector leaders, joined by leaders from several venerable hospitals, health systems, and various community and faith-based groups gathered to develop scalable and sustainable solutions.
The coalition established Mind OC to provide the central financial and leadership infrastructure and backbone to develop a community-wide, coordinated ecosystem to support optimal mental health. The result is Be Well OC, a movement to transform the mental health system and ensure that all residents who need care get the right care at the right time and in the right place.
Be Well OC is driven by the collective impact model, which recognizes that complex problems require collaboration from many sectors of the community to provide population-wide outcomes.
With a clearly defined leadership structure and well-defined goals, Mind OC, through Be Well OC, is transforming Orange County’s mental health services delivery into a world-class system of care. Mind OC priorities include:
- Developing a mental health and wellness infrastructure
- Optimizing value and transparency in mental health and substance use treatment services
- Sustaining Be Well OC with public/private partnerships,
Leadership Team
Phillip Franks MBA, MAS – Chief Executive Officer
Phil has more than 25 years of experience in healthcare and military leadership. He most recently built and opened Aliso Ridge Behavioral Health and Anaheim Community Hospitals, adding 217 inpatient beds to Orange County for adolescents and adults.
Desiree Thomas, MBA, MSN, R, NEA-BC, FACHE – Chief Operating Officer
Desiree has more than 20 years experience in not-for-profit hospitals and health systems, overseeing large clinical operations teams. She most recently served as the Executive Director of Emergency Services, Critical Care, and Behavioral Health Services at Providence St. Joseph Hospital Orange.
Victor Jordan, MBA – Chief Financial Officer
Victor has more than 30 years experience as a healthcare leader. He was responsible for regional and market operations, financial services and strategy for non-profit, faith-based integrated healthcare delivery systems, for-profit healthcare organizations and community hospitals.
Blair Contratto, MPH – Chief Strategy Officer
Blair recently held the position of President and CEO at Mount Carmel Health Ministries in Duarte. Prior to this, she spent seven years as CEO of Providence Health System’s Little Company of Mary. With 15 years of experience as a healthcare consultant, Blair continues to contribute her expertise as a member of the CalOptima Health Board.
Board of Directors
Richard Afable, MD – Chair
Mark E. Costa
Marcia Manker
Steve Pitman
Ali Santore
Rabbi Richard Steinberg
Bill Taormina