James C. Rachal, MD

“My focus is on decreasing the stigma associated with a mental health diagnosis.”

Dr. Rachal is board certified in family medicine and psychiatry. He is the campus medical director for Atrium Health Behavioral Health, a facility of Carolinas Medical Center and the chair for the Wake Forest Department of Psychiatry in the Charlotte region. He has helped to expand the department’s academic program to focus on providing services that decrease health disparities and the stigma associated with a mental health diagnosis.

Formerly, he served as the program director for the Sandra and Leon Levine Psychiatry Residency Program, where he worked with a dedicated team to develop and achieve accreditation for the program. Dr. Rachal trained with the United States Air Force at the National Capital Consortium. There, he instituted several programs to integrate behavioral health services into the primary care clinics and won the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal for that work. He served 4 years in the United States Air Force as medical director at Offutt Air Force Base.

Additionally, he was the medical director for several inpatient units at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, specializing in post-traumatic stress disorder. While there, Dr. Rachal opened the Acute Trauma Recovery Inpatient Unit. He also developed a curriculum and trained psychiatry residents in how to care for traumatized patients. He was named Physician of the Year for the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC.

He is a national speaker on post-traumatic stress disorder and leadership in medicine. He has made several national media appearances on Fox News and NPR’s “Marketplace,” discussing the psychological effects of COVID-19.

Dr. Rachal has offered prior expert testimony in the areas of trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder and medical administrative concerns.