Oscar F. Hills, MD, Steps into Leadership at a Pivotal Moment for Austen Riggs Center

July 6, 2026 — Stockbridge, MA — Oscar F. Hills, MD, has assumed the role of Medical Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Austen Riggs Center, effective July 1, 2026. His arrival comes at a critical juncture for one of the nation’s leading psychiatric residential treatment centers as well as a moment of dramatic change in the field of behavioral healthcare.

Hills was selected following a national search that began in January 2025 and attracted candidates from across the United States and abroad. He succeeds Edward R. Shapiro, MD, who served as Medical Director and CEO since January 2025 and previously held the role from 1991 to 2011.

Hills brings a rare combination of clinical depth and institutional leadership to Riggs. For more than 14 years, he directed the Psychiatric Emergency Room and Acute Psychiatric Services at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System’s West Haven campus, overseeing inpatient, emergency, residential, and consultation-liaison services in a high-acuity environment. He is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine, a certified psychoanalyst, and a training and supervising analyst—a background that reflects a sustained commitment to the kind of depth-oriented care that defines Riggs. His work has also engaged developments in neuroscience, complexity theory, and technology, bringing both clinical rigor and a broader institutional perspective to his leadership.

In the months leading up to his start, Hills made a point of listening carefully to staff, to board members, and to others with deep knowledge of Riggs and its mission. That listening has been deliberate, shaped by an awareness that the current environment in behavioral health is both challenging and consequential. Consolidation driven by private equity, workforce shortages, evolving reimbursement models, and shifting expectations around access and outcomes are reshaping the field in ways that have direct implications for institutions that are committed to longer-term, depth-oriented care, as Riggs is.

Hills enters the role clear-eyed about those pressures and about the distinctive value Riggs holds. His immediate priorities reflect both the urgency of the moment and a commitment to building the right foundation. On the top of this list is the search for a Chief Financial and Operations Officer, a role he views as integral to Riggs’ ability to move forward with both financial strength and operational resilience. The process, which is in its advanced stages, has attracted numerous talented and knowledgeable candidates. Building on that, Hills will also engage in a center-wide initiative to develop a strategic plan that is grounded in Riggs’ core mission while charting a realistic and forward-looking course.

“The months before my arrival gave me something invaluable: time and the opportunity to listen. What I heard from staff, board members, and others confirmed both the challenges facing Riggs and the extraordinary commitment of the people who sustain it. The environment we are operating in is demanding, but Riggs offers something that cannot be replicated: depth, time, and serious engagement with the complexity of human experience. My goal is to understand this sophisticated institution fully, to see what is essential and must be preserved, and where we must adapt and grow, so that Riggs can not only endure but also continue to thrive as a place that does a kind of work that is genuinely rare in American behavioral healthcare.”

The Austen Riggs Center is an open psychiatric residential treatment center and therapeutic community, as well as an institute for education, research, and advocacy in mental health. Located in the Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts, Riggs has served adults since its founding in 1919. In addition to its residential program, Riggs offers a fully online course of treatment for college students and other emerging adults in Massachusetts and Vermont through its Online Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP). Riggs focuses on understanding the psychological dilemmas underlying symptomatic behavior so that individuals can increasingly take charge of their lives. Through its Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy, Riggs also conducts research, professional training, and community outreach locally and beyond. For more information, visit www.AustenRiggs.org.

Media Contact:
John Zollinger
Director of Communications
Austen Riggs Center
413.931.5816
john.zollinger@austenriggs.net