RIDGWAY —The board of directors at Journey Health System (JHS) recently announced the appointment of James Prosper as the new executive director of Dickinson Center Inc. (DCI), an affiliate of JHS.

The board also recognized his predecessor, Heidi Thomas, for her 16 years of leadership at DCI prior to accepting the JHS chief financial officer position in June.

Prosper has over 25 years of experience in the mental health field, overseeing programs such as Intellectual Disability Services, Family-based, and Prevention Services. For the past 10 years, Prosper has served DCI, most recently as the operations director. Prior to that, he was the community programs coordinator.

He graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a bachelor’s degree in health policy and administration. He later continued his education by receiving his master’s degree in rehabilitative science at Clarion University.

Prosper stated, “DCI and our team provide essential services to the community. I’m proud of the successful work of our compassionate and dedicated employees. We’re excited to continue to be progressive with service expansion and to advance behavioral health care in the communities we serve.”

Prosper is a resident of DuBois and is committed to the communities that Dickinson serves, the board stated. He has volunteered or currently serves on various organizations’ boards including Systems of Care, Rehabilitation & Community Providers Association’s mental health steering committee, and the Rehabilitation & Community Providers Services Organization board of directors.

Since 1958, Dickinson Center Inc. has provided a comprehensive spectrum of behavioral health, intellectual disability, and prevention services. Initially, DCI opened to provide outpatient psychiatric care to rural northwestern Pennsylvania, and is now a rural behavioral health provider in northwestern Pennsylvania, serving Elk, Cameron, Potter, McKean, Forest, Warren, Jefferson, and Clearfield counties.