September 10, 2026 | By Atrium Health Foundation | In Contributor News
Ten years ago, Sandra and Leon Levine envisioned a stronger future for behavioral health — one where exceptional training would prepare the next generation of psychiatrists to meet the needs of the growing Charlotte community. Through their generosity, that vision became the Sandra and Leon Levine Psychiatry Residency Program at Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center.
Since then, the four-year residency has trained 22 psychiatrists, five of whom now serve as faculty, helping shape the next generation of physicians. Today, the program comprises 24 residents, including the largest class of seven who joined in July 2026.
“We focus on recruiting residents who will live up to Mr. Levine’s expectations — residents who aspire to assure the underserved in our community receive services, seek to innovate, and who provide the highest quality of care,” said Dr. James Rachal, medical director of Atrium Health Behavioral Health and chair of Wake Forest University School of Medicine Charlotte’s Department of Psychiatry.
That commitment is reflected in the breadth of residents’ training. Working alongside experienced faculty, residents gain exposure to a broad range of behavioral health conditions, and develop the skills to provide compassionate, evidence-based care. The curriculum includes telepsychiatry, first-break psychosis, assertive community treatment, interventional psychiatry, maternal wellness and perinatal psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, and college mental health.
And now, a new chapter is beginning.
In July 2026, the Sandra and Leon Levine Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program welcomed its inaugural class of three fellows. The two-year program builds on the foundation established by the residency, preparing psychiatrists to care for children, adolescents, and young adults while expanding access to specialized behavioral health care for some of the community’s most vulnerable patients.
Fellows receive rigorous academic and hands-on training across inpatient, outpatient, and community-based settings, with a curriculum covering psychopharmacology, psychotherapy, developmental psychopathology, and family systems. They also gain unique experience in telepsychiatry, school-based mental health, addiction psychiatry, partial hospitalization, and emergency psychiatric services within a 24/7 behavioral health emergency department.
On September 2, psychiatry residents, fellows, and faculty gathered to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the Sandra and Leon Levine Psychiatry Residency Program, welcome the inaugural class of the Sandra and Leon Levine Child & Adolescent Fellowship, and recognize The Leon Levine Foundation’s commitment to behavioral health care at Atrium Health.
As the psychiatry residency celebrates its 10th anniversary and the child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship welcomes its first class, Leon Levine’s legacy continues to take shape — in the physicians being trained, the leaders they become, and the patients and families whose lives will be touched by their care.
“We are especially grateful to The Leon Levine Foundation for its continued support and partnership,” said Mark Griffith, president of Atrium Health Foundation and vice president of Advocate Health’s NC/GA Division. “We thank Sandra Levine for her unwavering commitment to making a difference and for carrying forward the tradition of generosity and impact she and Leon established together.”
