New Horizons announces new CEO William Wims joins the team as chief executive officer

Posted 1/15/21

New Horizons of the Treasure Coast and Okeechobee is pleased to announce William Wims has assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer and President.

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New Horizons announces new CEO William Wims joins the team as chief executive officer

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FORT PIERCE, FLORIDA – New Horizons of the Treasure Coast and Okeechobee, a nonprofit mental health and addiction recovery provider serving 15,000 children and adults annually, is pleased to announce William Wims has assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer and President.

Wims comes to New Horizons from South County Behavioral Health in Delray Beach where he worked for 22 years to achieve high ratings in client care, employee satisfaction and leadership in the field of mental health. His most recent appointment was director of Acute Care Services, which oversaw inpatient crisis programs and mobile response teams.

Over the past two years Wims successfully spearheaded a significant expansion of mobile response services in Palm Beach County, providing telephone support and dispatching mobile outreach to individuals in crisis across a diverse region of urban centers and remote agricultural communities.

With the support of community partners, Wims aims to expand New Horizons’ current 24-hour mobile response services across Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee counties, as well as initiate other programs that meet the needs of an everchanging population.

A graduate of Lake Worth High School, Wims attended Quincy College (now Quincy University) in Illinois, where he played football for the Hawks as an outside linebacker. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Athletic Training and Health Care Administration.

He happened upon mental health… and his destiny… by sheer accident. On his way to a job interview as a physical therapist, Wims took a wrong turn that landed him a career helping a very vulnerable population where he was able to grow personally and professionally, and mentor others to do the same.

“I believe in treating people fairly and with respect,” says Wims about his management style, which emphasizes operationalizing the vision of New Horizons and holding people accountable. “I won’t ever ask anyone to do something I wouldn’t do.”

Wims made his way up through the ranks from residential counselor for at risk youth in the juvenile justice system to children’s case manager, adult case manager, emergency screener, supervisor and ultimately chief.

“When someone in the kitchen called out absent, I’d cook the meal,” he said. “At the beginning of covid, I would personally sanitize all the offices to make staff feel more comfortable.”

Wims and his wife, Akisha, who has also worked with high-risk juveniles, are currently in the process of moving to the Treasure Coast. Please give them a warm welcome!

Established in 1958, New Horizons is the largest behavioral health provider in the region, with eight outpatient offices across four counties and 100 inpatient beds at the main campus on Midway Road in Fort Pierce.

Of the 15,000 children and adults New Horizons serves each year, almost 60% have no source of income or any insurance, yet no one is turned away due to lack of financial resources. New Horizons also teaches drug prevention and anti-violence curricula in schools to 20,000 students, grades K-12.

To learn more about New Horizons, please visit www.nhtcinc.org. William Wims can be reached by email at WWims@nhtcinc.org or call 772-672-8383.

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