New leaders for Northlake Behavioral Health System in Mandeville include CEO Billie Whittington, COO Diana Polyakof, Director of Nursing JoNell King, and Director of Social Services Anna Mercante.
The change in the leadership team has been initiated by NESS Healthcare’s President Tony Shir. NESS Healthcare owns Northlake Behavioral Health System.
Whittington has 20 years of healthcare experience. She began her healthcare career as a laboratory medical technologist after obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Clinical Laboratory Sciences from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. She transitioned into quality early in her career when she became responsible for CAP accreditation for a special chemistry lab.
From there, Whittington went on to obtain a Masters of Public Administration with a Healthcare Concentration from Louisiana State University’s E. J. Ourso College of Business.
She has spent 14 years of her career implementing strategies and practices to maintain Joint Commission, LDH, CLIA and CAP compliance. She has successfully passed six Joint Commission surveys, as well as numerous state surveys during her career.
Whittington also specializes in strategic goal development, risk management, patient safety, environment of care safety, emergency preparedness, performance improvement, and data analysis.
In 2011, Whittington was appointed to the National Association of Healthcare Quality 2011 & 2012 Healthcare Quality Foundation Team. She was also a governor appointed member of the 2015 Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners Clinical Laboratory Personnel Committee. She is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and has a Yellow Belt in LEAN Six Sigma.