Towson, Maryland-based Sheppard Pratt Hospital — which is one of the oldest psychiatric health systems in the country — has launched a new division to expand service access throughout its Baltimore-area homebase and beyond.

Sheppard Pratt Solutions will use mental health professionals to provide consulting, management services and development-based partnerships with health care organizations nationwide.

Helming Sheppard Pratt Solutions is Stephen Merz, who recently was named Sheppard Pratt’s chief operating officer to lead the new division.

“I am thrilled to join the Sheppard Pratt team,” Merz said in a press release. “With the collective experience of this team, we can help healthcare leaders nationwide access the resources and expertise necessary to provide comprehensive, high-quality behavioral health care services for their community.

Merz was previously the president and CEO of Maine Behavioral Healthcare, which is based in Portland, Maine. He was also previously a vice president and executive director of behavioral health for Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut.

“Steve is bringing his vast knowledge and expertise to Sheppard Pratt to help hospitals and health systems nationwide better integrate behavioral health care into their overall healthcare system,” Sheppard Pratt President and CEO Harsh Trivedi said in the press release. “We look forward to his leadership as we stretch our services and make mental health care available in communities where a real need has been demonstrated.”

Founded in 1853, Sheppard Pratt is the country’s largest nonprofit provider of mental health, substance use disorder, developmental disability, special education and social services.