Victoria Whitt is the new chief executive officer of Sandhills Center.

Whitt, who has been with the center 30 years, has served as interim CEO since last fall, when Michael Watson resigned to accept a position as assistant secretary of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services in Raleigh.

Whitt has served as the center’s deputy director and chief operating officer since 2003. She is a graduate of Rockingham High School and St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg and holds a Master of Public Administration degree from UNC-Charlotte.

Whitt and her husband, William Mitchell Whitt, live near Rockingham in Richmond County.

Sandhills Center is a local management entity of DHHS in matters related to mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse in Anson, Harnett, Hoke, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph and Richmond counties. The center’s administrative offices are in Seven Lakes.

When first established, the center served only five counties, but gradually, as the state made changes in administrative direction, other counties were added because Sandhills was the most stable and best managed LME in the area.

The center’s mission is defined as “to develop, manage and assure the availability of community-based, publicly funded mental health services through a network of private providers.” In addition, it operates a 24-hour toll-free call center through which people can get information and make appointments with providers of services. Calls to (800) 256-2452 are answered by licensed clinicians 365 days a year to provide information and access to help in routine or emergency situations.