About Dr. Wiechers

Caring Physician, Healthcare Leader, Passionate Advocate 

Caring Physician

I am a geriatric psychiatrist and faculty member at University of California San Francisco and Yale University. I specialize in the care of Veterans with late-life mood, anxiety, and trauma-related disorders and practice in the San Francisco VA ketamine clinic.

I teach audiences of interprofessional healthcare providers at all levels in the subject areas of psychopharmacology, geriatric mental health, health policy and advocacy, and quality improvement. 

I have extensive experience in public speaking and communicating complex healthcare concepts both verbally and in writing to the public. 

I am also involved in national and local curriculum development, clinical supervision, and mentorship.

Healthcare Leader

I currently serve as the Deputy Executive Director in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Office of Mental Health (OMH). In this role, I lead a team of nearly 100 multi-disciplinary staff located across the nation in executing a $380 million budget to ensure the timely development and implementation of policies and programs providing Veteran-centered, evidence-based, high-quality mental health services to over 2 million Veterans every year.

I lead OMH’s legislative policy and partnership work, engaging regularly with key Congressional stakeholders and Veteran Service Organizations. I have been instrumental in the development of VHA’s portfolio of innovative mental health treatments including ketamine, esketamine, and psychedelic-assisted therapy.

I have extensive experience in developing national mental health programs while navigating complex legislative and regulatory affairs, with expertise in executive leadership, strategic planning, human capital management, finance, intergovernmental relations, and stakeholder engagement.

Passionate Advocate

I am passionate about advocating for improved access, quality, and delivery of healthcare for our nation’s Veterans and people with mental health and substance use disorders.

I have experience in coalition building, stakeholder engagement, and grassroots network development. I also have hands-on experience with the federal legislative process.

I led the public policy and advocacy efforts of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry for a decade and served as the Secretary/Treasurer on the AAGP Board of Directors. 

I co-edited A Psychiatrist’s Guide to Advocacy, which explores the diverse definitions of advocacy and helps to identify methods and opportunities for advocacy by mental health practitioners. Hear more about this practical toolkit for advocacy and my work advocating for geriatric mental health on the podcast Psychiatry Unbound.

Full curriculum vitae available here

Learn more about my work on my UCSF and Yale faculty webpages.