Stephen Soltys, MD

Stephen Soltys, MD received his Bachelor of Science from University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana) in Biology in 1976.  After a year of master's work there, he entered the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and received his MD in 1980.  He completed his psychiatric residency at SIU in 1984.  After a year of clinical practice in Arkansas, Dr. Soltys did a two-year child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at the University of Missouri-Columbia.  Dr. Soltys stayed on as an adjunct faculty with the University of Missouri-Columbia and worked for the Missouri Department of Mental Health in various capacities including medical director of the Mid-Missouri Mental Health Center and eventually being the statewide children's medical director for the Missouri Department of Mental Health.  In 1997, Dr. Soltys became the director of the South Carolina Department of Mental Health responsible for developing a statewide system of care with 6,000 employees and a $375 million budget.  In 2000, Dr. Soltys left the director position and practiced clinical psychiatry for two years with the South Carolina Department of Mental Health.  In 2002, he returned to Southern Illinois University School of Medicine initially as the interim chair of the department and residency director and was eventually named the chairman, until retiring in 2016 (Professor Emeritus).  Dr. Soltys has been involved with many national committees and has 23 papers, 20 book chapters, and 38 national presentations to his credit.