Kdmc Introduces Kdmc Behavioral Wellness Center

Brookhaven, MS – Meeting a need in southwest Mississippi, King’s Daughters Medical Center introduces the new KDMC Behavioral Wellness Center, with Brookhaven native Dr. John David Richardson as director.

“We continually assess ourselves to see how we can best serve our community,” said King’s Daughters Medical Center CEO Alvin Hoover, FACHE. “Adding a service for those who are experiencing behavioral wellness issues seemed a natural fit for our mission of providing quality health and wellness in a Christian environment. We were very fortunate to bring in a physician who is not only highly qualified and skilled but also familiar to many of those we serve through his longtime practice in Jackson and his status as a hometown boy.”

Richardson is a board-certified psychiatrist who has practiced since 1992 in Jackson, where he received his medical degree from the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He works with adults, including geriatric patients. Joining him in the clinic are two board-certified Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioners, Crystal Willson and Katherine C. Flynn. Flynn specializes in pediatric and adolescent patients.

Richardson said he has long recognized a need for more counseling and psychiatric medication and intervention services in the community that KDMC serves. Some patients, he said, drove an hour from the Brookhaven area to see him in Jackson. Now those patients can stay right here at home for their treatment.

“Most of my practice involves addiction work and depression and anxiety in adults,” he said. “I also have a very strong interest in working with people with eating disorders and patients that are victims of abuse.”

Medication management is among the KDMC Behavioral Wellness Center’s services. As a psychiatrist, Richardson is a medical doctor, so he can prescribe medication (unlike psychologists). He has extensive experience with individual therapy, group therapy and intensive outpatient programs.

“One of the biggest problems with mental and psychiatric care is that there is a stigma,” Richardson said. “Even patients themselves have a hard time conceptualizing something they can’t see or feel. A lot of those people go untreated. Establishing a practice in Brookhaven with a trusted hospital like KDMC will help care for people with these illnesses and educate the community.

“No one is immune from these conditions,” he said. “The good news is, they are treatable.”

The KDMC Behavioral Wellness Center is at 439 N. Jackson St., Suite D, in Brookhaven. The telephone number is 601.835.9499.