Candidate for 2025 Area 6 Trustee

Biography

Dr. Nelson has been practicing psychiatry for more than 30 years during which time he has cared for a diversity of patients and families in a variety of healthcare settings. He currently maintains a full-time office practice in Marin County and is the Medical Director of La Cheim Behavioral Health Services, a CMHC-licensed Partial Hospital Program, which he helped to cofound in 1995. Dr. Nelson is also a Past Chair of Psychiatry at Marin General Hospital, where he established a Consultation and Emergency Psychiatry Service and served as Medical Director for Outpatient Behavioral Health Services.

Dr. Nelson is a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and served as an APA Assembly representative for over 10 years, before being elected Recorder and then Speaker. He also served on the APA Board of Trustees and Co-Chaired or worked in several BOT workgroups. Dr. Nelson has served as President of several local chapters in California and the Northern California Psychiatric Society DB.

Previously, Dr. Nelson worked in public and community psychiatry, where he incorporated technology in assisting marginalized persons to access psychiatric services. As the Medical Director of the Brinton Psychiatric Homeless Project in San Francisco, he established city-wide social and legal service collaborations to assist homeless persons in accessing mental healthcare, housing and benefits. He developed a first-of-its-kind mobile electronic health record and pioneered electronic prescribing to deliver psychiatric services to persons at campsites and shelters. He established psychiatric services for indigent persons at Bay Area Catholic Charities and consulted to several Bay Area clinics, including the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic, Glide Memorial Church, Saint Anthony's Center, Mission Drop-In Center, Tenderloin Drop-In Center, Caduceus Outreach Services, and the Homeless Advocacy Project of San Francisco. Dr. Nelson served as a Medical Officer in the U.S. Air Force, cared for veterans through the VA Medical System, and treated mentally ill incarcerated persons as Medical Director for the Sacramento County Jails. Dr. Nelson has been an advocate for the rights and benefits of psychiatric patients and those with mental illness, serving as the psychiatrist appointee to the California Mental Health Planning Council.

Dr. Nelson has published several newsletter and journal articles and has presented several talks to colleagues and to mental health advocacy and consumer groups. Many of his talks have focused on navigating the labyrinth of healthcare systems and improving access to care. Dr. Nelson has previously held teaching appointments with UC Davis, UCSF, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Education

• Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, University of Pennsylvania
• Doctor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
• Categorical Internship in Medicine/Psychiatry, Hillside Hospital/Long Island Jewish Medical Center
• Psychiatry Residency, Hillside Hospital Division of Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Awards and Honors

• Psi Chi Psychology Honor Society
• US Air Force Health Professions Scholarship Award recipient
• US Air Force Commendation Medal
• Janssen Clinical Scholarship Award
• Voted Best Psychiatrist in Marin County 2017 and 2018
• Albert Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award
• Meritorious Service Award from Northern California Psychiatric Society