Our Team

Chad Hickerson, Heritage Oaks Hospital’s Chief Executive Officer, began his career in behavioral health in 1996. He is an established health care professional with decades of experience in the fields of medical and behavioral health care leadership. He has held several key leadership positions in his career, both in the public sector (Hospital Administrator, Chief of Mental Health, Career Executive Assignment) and private sector (Chief Executive Officer, Regional Director of Operations, and Vice President of Operations), specializing in public/private partnerships. Chad holds a master’s degree in Organizational Development (focus in Leadership) and has bachelor’s degrees in Health Care Administration and Sociology. Chad is known for bringing patient-centered care, a focus on safety, and results to some of the most complex treatment settings, while developing and supporting the people they serve.

Dr. Sison has served as the medical director for Heritage Oaks Hospital since 2006 and is an associate clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UC Davis School of Medicine. He graduated from UCLA School of Medicine and completed his general psychiatry residency training at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Sison is also a child psychiatrist and finished his child psychiatry training at the University of Maryland Medical Systems. He is a longtime active community member in Sacramento and had previously served as medical director for Sacramento County Child and Family Mental Health for 11 years. He has served on various boards of directors in Sacramento, including the Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Sacramento and the Head Trauma Support Project. He is a previous president of the Central California Psychiatric Society, a district branch of the American Psychiatric Association.

Although Dr. Sison specializes in the treatment of mood disorders in children and adolescents as well as being an expert in treating children with ADHD, his psychopharmacology expertise also serves him well in the treatment of various adult psychiatric illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, depression and schizophrenia.