Columbia Wellness announces new Chief Executive Officer

Columbia Wellness would like to announce the selection of Drew McDaniel as Chief Executive Officer.  Drew has over 27 years of service with Columbia Wellness and has held previous positions of Director of Crisis Services, Director of Child and Family Services, and Director of the Wellness and Recovery Center.  He received both his Bachelor (BA) and Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) degrees from the University of South Carolina.  He is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Child Mental Health Specialist.  Drew was a Regional Health Education Group Facilitator with Kaiser Permanente from 1995 to 2013 and has worked as a clinician with Washington State Family Reconciliation Services.  He owns a United States Trademark for the development of the "Gimme 5 for Life" model of youth suicide education and prevention and is the creator of the “Your Three Seconds” anti-bullying program.  He co-developed the Threat Assessment Model for potential school threat incidents and has provided training in Behavioral Health to regional health care providers, schools, law enforcement and community advocates.  He helped develop and present the Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) program to regional Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders.  He is an Adjunct Instructor with Lower Columbia College, where he teaches suicide assessment for the Chemical Dependency Studies program.

Drew has been married to his beautiful wife, Maili, for 32 years.  Together, they have three amazing children.  He considers his family his greatest blessing and his career as his greatest opportunity to serve his fellow man.  Drew believes fully in the mission and purpose of Columbia Wellness.  We are excited to see Columbia Wellness continue to grow to meet the Behavioral Health needs of our region and to have Drew stand at the helm of our organization.