Senate confirms new state leader for behavioral health

The Rhode Island Senate Thursday voted unanimously to approve the appointment of Richard Leclerc as the new director of the Rhode Island Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals (BHDDH).

Leclerc will head the state’s second largest department, with an operating budget for fiscal 2024 of $672 million and 1,100 employees.That includes workers in behavioral health and developmental disabilities, as well as two state hospitals: the Rhode Island State Psychiatric Hospital and Eleanor Slater Hospital.