By Maria Cook
Vanessa Pataky of Zionsville has been promoted to director of Youth & Family and Home & Community-based Services at Aspire Indiana, a health care system that provides primary care and mental health services throughout Indiana.
Aspire Indiana has locations in Boone, Hamilton, Madison and Marion counties.
Pataky has more than a decade of experience in the social work and mental health fields, having spent 12 years working at Cummins Behavioral Health and approximately two years at IU Health before becoming a clinical manager for Hamilton County at Aspire. Pataky was promoted to her current position after working at Aspire for a year and a half.
“The majority of my background is working with youth and family,” Pataky said. “Aspire has been changing its DNA to be a whole health family provider, and my role is to spearhead the youth aspect of Aspire, with the primary focus being a relationship with community partners, such as DCS (Dept. of Child Services).”
Pataky also is an adjunct professor at Butler University, where she teaches in the Licensed Mental Health Certification program, and at IUPUI, where she teaches in the School of Social Work.
“Teaching is really a nice opportunity for me to give back to this field,” Pataky said. “It’s a nice way to keep me connected to the new, up-and-coming therapists and social workers.”
Pataky said her primary goal in her new position at Aspire aligns with Aspire’s overall goals as it makes changes to its health care system, including forging strong relationships between patients and staff.
“Each of our locations is really trying to bridge that gap between the head and the body in order to serve the whole person and the whole family,” Pataky said.
