Sabrina Young, a Mississippi Gulf Coast native, was appointed Director of South Mississippi State Hospital (SMSH) in Purvis by the Mississippi Board of Mental Health on January 19, 2017.
Young has been employed with the hospital since January 2000, just prior to the facility’s opening in May of that year. She will be the third director since the hospital opened. At the time of her appointment to the director position, Young was serving as the hospital’s Administrative Support Director. She served as Director of Information Systems at SMSH before being named Administrative Support Director and has continued to serve in that capacity, filling a dual role.
She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science from The University of Southern Mississippi and is a 2004 graduate of the John C. Stennis Institute of Government. She completed the Mississippi State Certified Public Managers Program in 2008 and graduated from the Department of Mental Health’s Accelerated Leadership Development Program in 2009.
“For 17 years Ms. Young has served as an integral part of the leadership of South Mississippi State Hospital,” said Dr. Marc Lewis, Bureau of Mental Health Director for the Mississippi Department of Mental Health. “I am very pleased that Sabrina was appointed by the Board of Mental Health as the director of SMSH. I know she will be an outstanding leader and advocate for the patients, staff, and the community.”
Before becoming part of the management team at South Mississippi State Hospital, Young spent 11 years at Puckett Laboratory where she worked in various departments including Information Systems as the Chief Information Officer.
She is a member of the Friends of South Mississippi State Hospital organization and the Mississippi Society of Certified Public Managers.
Young and her husband, Ailrick, have been married 29 years and have two adult children, Deon and Lauren. The Youngs live in Hattiesburg, where they attend West Point Baptist Church. In her spare time, Young enjoys spending time with family and friends and teaching Zumba.