Local Psychiatrists Help Ensure Care for Future Generations

For more than three decades, Dr. Stuart Sugarman and Dr. O’Ann Fredstrom (pictured above) have provided psychiatric care in Jackson. Both began practicing locally in the mid-1990s, serving patients throughout the community and as members of the St. John’s Health medical staff. Through decades of caring for patients, they have seen behavioral health needs change and grow, while the importance of sustaining psychiatric care in our community has remained constant.

That perspective shaped their decision to make a Legacy Gift to the Behavioral Health Endowment at St. John’s Health Foundation, turning decades of dedication to psychiatric care into a legacy that will reach far beyond their own practice.

“After nearly 100 years of combined experience in psychiatry, we're both still actively practicing and caring for patients in Jackson. Throughout our careers, we have seen firsthand how timely, compassionate behavioral health care can change lives. That's why we chose to support the Behavioral Health Endowment—to help ensure this care remains available to everyone who needs it for generations to come.”

Sustaining Care for the Long Term

Psychiatric care is essential, but insurance reimbursement often does not cover the full cost of providing these services. The Behavioral Health Endowment helps bridge that gap through a permanent source of annual funding, sustaining adult, child and adolescent psychiatry and supporting the recruitment and retention of exceptional providers at St. John’s Health.

Through their Legacy Gift, Dr. Fredstrom and Dr. Sugarman are turning a lifetime devoted to psychiatry into lasting support for behavioral health, ensuring their impact continues through every patient who benefits from these services.