From the Desk of the CEO - Dec 2019

New Beginnings

We’re ending the year with news of a friend and colleague who has announced his retirement. Dennis Goodspeed will leave us on January 31, 2020.

Dennis has worked at Lakeview for more than 40 years, where he started his career here as a practicum student and intern in Outpatient. Over the years he had many different responsibilities with the behavioral health division and ultimately went on to oversee all of Lakeview’s behavioral health programs and services as the division Vice President.

Earlier this year, Dennis dedicated himself to leading operations with our new affiliate Chautauqua Healthcare Services (CHCS) in Walton County. Over his tenure, Dennis was responsible for services that annually helped 27,000 people along their life journey. Exponentially, there’s no telling just how many lives he impacted either directly or indirectly. He provided oversight to inpatient, outpatient, day treatment, case management, residential and specialty services and programs.

Upon Dennis’ departure, Shawn Salamida will oversee all behavioral health services, including those in Walton County. Shawn has been with the organization for five years and previously served as the President of Families First Network. Shawns career experience is one of compassion, dedication and excellence. His work is really more of a calling. He has made great strides in helping children throughout the state of Florida who need foster or adoptive homes. He has collaborated with numerous partners over the years at both local and state levels and has led some significant initiatives such as the Library Partnership, iSAFE and Achieve Escambia. He has been responsible for Behavioral Health in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties since July 2019. We will continue to have a leadership presence on the CHCS campus in Tia Guidry, Director at Chautauqua Healthcare Services. Tia has been with the CHCS organization for many years and has been invaluable to Dennis in the transition process.

We will be having a celebration for Dennis at the end of January--stay tuned for details. In the meantime, join me in congratulating Dennis on his upcoming retirement!

Allison Hill

Lakeview Center Inc. - President/CEO