Indian-American appointed to National Advisory Council of the Center for Mental Health Services

- ADVERTISEMENT -

An Indian-American from Mississippi has been appointed by the Trump administration to the National Advisory Council of the Center for Mental Health Services.

Sampat Shivangi, MD, previously served on the Mississippi State Board of Mental Health for more than a decade as vice chair and chair. Shivangi called it a “unique honor” saying he looked forward “to serve the nation with my best of abilities.”

The letter from Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex M. Azar, which was shared with News India Times, invites Shivangi to serve for a four year term ending July 30, 2023.

“Going from the state level to the national feels great,” Shivangi said. “This position is more focused than my previous national appointment during the George W. Bush administration when I served as a commissioner of health in the Department of Health,” he added..

“What I have learnt as part of the State Board of Health here in Mississippi – for instance, how we developed a decentralized hospitals system and segregated patients according to their level of illness – will be valuable in my new position. For example, those who are borderline mental health patients, we are able to have them working in jobs that made them productive members of society rather than being in hospital. They become part of the community.”

A long-time conservative, Shivangi is the founding member of the Republican Indian Council and the Republican Indian National Council founded “to work to help and assist in promoting” President Trump’s agenda.

He is the National President of Indian American Forum for Political Education, one of the oldest Indian-American organizations.

Over the last several decades, he has lobbied along with other members of the Indian-American community, for bills in U.S. Congress that further relations with India, and to improve domestic policies that affect Indian-Americans, especially physicians and health care professionals.

He lobbied for first Diwali celebration in the White house which began during the term of President George W. Bush. He also lobbied for the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation deal, He accompanied President Bill Clinton during his historic visit to India in March 2000.

Shivangi also served as Vice president of the Mississippi Foundation for the Blind, and has been involved in numerous philanthropic activities including working with the Diabetic, Cancer and Heart Associations of America; charitable projects in India including primary and middle schools, cultural center, and the Indian Medical Association centers.

He has been awarded India’s Pravasi Bharatiya Sanman award in 2016, and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2008, which recognizes the work of immigrants.