- Phone: 850-476-0977
- Email: UFBHH_PNS@creeksidepa.com
- Address: Creekside Psychiatric Center | 5190 Bayou Blvd, #6 | Pensacola, FL 32503
UF Behavioral Health Hub – Pensacola serves children ages 0-21 years in the Panhandle/Big Bend Region. We receive consult referrals from participating and enrolled providers in the following counties: Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton, and Washington.
R. Scott Benson, MD
Dr. Benson received his medical degree from Emory University. He trained in Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota. After serving as a pediatrician for two years with the U.S. Navy at Camp Lejeune, he decided to pursue training in child psychiatry. He completed his residency/fellowship in Psychiatry and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at Duke University. Dr. Benson is Board Certified in Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
Richard D’Alli, MD, MEd, ScM
Dr. D’Alli is Associate Professor Emeritus in the UF College of Medicine and currently Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor in the UF Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He has 30 years of experience as a clinician, educator, and administrator in pediatric age mental health programs at four academic medical centers. He received his undergraduate degree and master of education degree from the University of Florida and medical degree from the University of Arizona. Dr. D’Alli completed his residency in psychiatry and fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC. After serving as Director of Community Child Psychiatry Programs at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, he returned to Duke to build a multidisciplinary, pediatric age behavioral health clinic over 13 years. He joined the UF faculty in both Pediatrics and Psychiatry in 2015, building a developmental and behavioral health program embedded in the Department of Pediatrics and supervising the outpatient autism clinic in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. D’Alli is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
Sarah Vas, MD
Dr. Vas is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She is interested in prevention and treatment of mental illness and substance use in children and adolescents, using a youth guided and family driven model. Dr. Vas completed her undergraduate and graduate education at Washington University in St. Louis and her medical education in Manipal University-Kasturba Medical College/American University of Antigua College of Medicine. She moved to Gainesville to complete the combined Psychiatry – Child Psychiatry Fellowship track at University of Florida. During her Child Psychiatry training, Dr. Vas recognized the importance of prevention of substance use and addiction right from adolescence. As a natural alignment to Dr. Vas’ interests, she went on to complete an Addiction Medicine Fellowship at UF. During her Addiction Medicine Fellowship, Dr. Vas continued to treat children and adolescents as part-time Adjunct Faculty. She remained at UF as full time faculty and serves to train medical students, residents and fellows in the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics.
Dr. Vas consistently serves her community through activities geared toward the prevention of mental illness and recovery. Dr. Vas is fluent in Spanish. She enjoys spending time with her family.
Leslie Perez, MSW, LCSW, Care Coordinator/Case Manager
Leslie Perez is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Qualified Supervisor with nearly two decades of experience. Leslie completed her undergraduate Bachelors of Social Work degree at Radford University in Virginia and her Masters of Social Work degree at Florida State University. Additionally, she is a graduate of the FSU Harris Institute for Infant Mental Health. Throughout her career, Leslie has specialized in child and adolescent mental health services. She has provided counseling and case management services for state and government contracts in private practice, hospital, school, daycare, court, and military settings. Leslie enjoyed six years of instructing Bachelor and Master level Social Work courses as an adjunct professor for the University of West Florida. As a Program Manager for a nonprofit family organization and Regional Supervisor for the Military and Family Life Counseling program her leadership demonstrated success in designing and implementing systems within community-based services, streamlining services for client access, and improving clinical outcomes.
Stephanie C. Gann, BS, Program Coordinator
Stephanie received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida in 2008. She has worked in the healthcare field since 2003, starting in medical records for both a pediatric clinic and orthopedic clinic, then in transcription for the hospital. In 2012, she started as a contracting assistant for pediatric patient insurance and then worked as a liaison for network management, serving the Medicaid population of Florida. In 2019, she joined the Self-Insurance Program serving Florida’s Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Veterinary Medicine at FAU, FIU, FSU, UCF, and UF as an education/training specialist and database administrator, as well as the data analyst for the Florida Academic Healthcare Patient Safety Organization. 2023 has brought her to the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry to serve as the Program Coordinator for the Panhandle region.