MiraVista Announces Darlene Sejour as New Chief Nursing Officer

HOLYOKE — MiraVista Behavioral Health Center appointed Darlene Sejour as chief Nursing officer. Sejour will continue to serve in the same role at TaraVista Behavioral Health Center, its sister facility in Devens.

Sejour is a registered nurse at the master’s level. Prior to joining TaraVista shortly after it opened in 2017 to provide inpatient care to children, adolescents, and adults in Middlesex and Worcester counties as well as Southern New Hampshire, she served as program director at the Geriatric Medical Psychiatry Program at what is now UMass Memorial Health Alliance – Clinton Hospital.

She joins MiraVista as it nears its second anniversary of providing inpatient psychiatric care to both adolescents and adults as well as a continuum of outpatient substance-use services.

Sejour works in collaboration with Dr. Negar Beheshti, chief medical officer at both facilities, who is board-certified in general psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry, in “delivering the clinical product from the nursing staff that provides the highest-quality care possible and that provides care to our patients in the most dignified and respectful manner possible while providing the means to continually improve patient experience,” she noted. “Our vision is for MiraVista to be a strong anchor in the community for our patients.”

She credits a strong family background of nurses, as well as having a family member growing up who suffered a serious mental illness, with sparking her interest in nursing and the specialty of psychiatric nursing.

“I was able early on to understand the difference between the person and the diagnosis,” said Sejour, who is of Haitian decent and grew up in New Jersey. “As an executive nurse leader, it is an opportunity to bring that level of competence and compassion to how we care for our patients and how we care for our staff as well. I care for the staff so they can care for the patient.

“Psychiatric nursing is rewarding and has its challenges,” she added. “It requires the individual to have a heart for our patients while bringing the art of who they are to be effective. In turn, patients who have entrusted us with their care will go into the community, and the sharing of the experience they received will help decrease some of the stigma of an inpatient-care environment.”