Division of mental health has new chief

Harold Cook, director of Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services, has been named as administrator of the state's Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services.

Cook, 61, replaces Carlos Brandenburg, who retired Jan. 25 after more than a decade at the helm of Nevada's mental health division. Cook began his new duties on Monday, said Gov. Jim Gibbons' press secretary, Melissa Subbotin.

As administrator of the division, Cook will oversee a staff of 1,900 and an annual budget of more than $320 million.

His responsibilities include establishing and implementing services for Nevada's mentally ill and developmentally disabled. Cook also is responsible for oversight of the state's Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Agency.

He will earn $119,022, Subbotin said.

Under state law, the governor appoints the position. The state received a total of 14 resumes for the job. Those candidates were cut down to five, and the commission met with each last month. The top three were forwarded for Gibbons' review.

Cook, a psychologist who also is a disabled Vietnam War veteran, has worked in the agency since 1978.

He is a member of the National Alliance of Mentally Ill and the Western Psychiatric State Hospital Association.