Learn About Hazelden Betty Ford
Center City, Minn. (November 16, 2022) – Dr. Alta DeRoo, chief medical officer of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation—the nation's leading nonprofit system of addiction treatment, mental health care, recovery resources and related prevention and education services—has been named one of AMWA INSPIRE's 2022 awardees.
The AMWA INSPIRE Award, given by the Leadership Council of the American Medical Women's Association, honors women physicians who are inspirational and who demonstrate vision, integrity, collaboration and service.
It is the latest recognition for the extraordinary Dr. DeRoo, a former Naval flight officer, and currently board-certified addiction medicine physician and obstetrician-gynecologist (OB/GYN) who is a leading national expert on treating pregnant patients who have substance use disorders. Last year, she became the first woman to serve as chief medical officer of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, where she leads all clinical operations.
"Dr. DeRoo is an exceptional physician-leader," said Joseph Lee, MD, president and CEO of Hazelden Betty Ford. "From flying combat aircraft to catching babies in the birthing center to providing compassionate care for those in crisis, her career trajectory follows the ethos of helping others, and I am grateful she chooses to apply her hard work and talents toward the health and healing of our patients."
Dr. DeRoo is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine and a member of the American Association of Addiction Psychiatry and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Prior to her civilian career in medicine, she served for 24 years in the U.S. Navy, where she led 40 missions and was the first woman assigned to her combat squadron.
The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is a force of healing and hope for individuals, families and communities affected by addiction to alcohol and other drugs. As the nation's leading nonprofit provider of comprehensive inpatient and outpatient addiction and mental health care for adults and youth, the Foundation has treatment centers and telehealth services nationwide as well as a network of collaborators throughout health care. Through charitable support and a commitment to innovation, the Foundation is able to continually enhance care, research, programs and services, and help more people. With a legacy that began in 1949 and includes the 1982 founding of the Betty Ford Center, the Foundation today is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in its services and throughout the organization, which also encompasses a graduate school of addiction studies, a publishing division, an addiction research center, recovery advocacy and thought leadership, professional and medical education programs, school-based prevention resources and a specialized program for children who grow up in families with addiction.