Feb 1, 2018, 12:22pm EST
Footprints to Recovery expanding with new Main Line addiction treatment center – Philadelphia Business Journal
A Chicago-based operator of drug and alcohol addiction treatment centers is reaching into the region. Footprints to Recovery is planning to open a 8,700-square-foot outpatient care facility in the suburb of Wayne this month. The company opened its first center in Hamilton, N.J., in 2014, and its second in Chicago in 2015. Its expansion plans also include opening a detoxification center in Arizona as soon as next month.
Hirsch Chinn, the company’s founder and CEO, was born in Toronto but spent more than 20 years in Pittsburgh before recently moving to Chicago. He said he has wanted to open a center in Pennsylvania since starting the company in 2013. “Unfortunately, the addiction epidemic isn’t contained to one specific state,” Chinn said, noting Pennsylvania’s heroin and opioid addiction rate is twice the national average.
Footprint to Recovery doesn’t claim to be superior to its competitors, he said, but its centers and rehabilitation approach do have distinctions that make them unique. “The truth is there are dozens of incredible treatment centers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey,” he said. “One thing we try to do is look at each individual patient’s needs and meet them where they are. We don’t have one treatment plan we try to use for everybody.”
Upon entering the Wayne facility, located in a large office park, another difference is quickly evident. Its other facilities have tended to attract a predominantly millennial patientele and the new center is designed to reflect that demographic. The center is filled with modern furniture including a cluster of chairs that hang from the ceiling. It has a yoga studio, an art studio and space for a ping-pong table that is expected to arrive shortly.
“We try to create an atmosphere that is young, hip and modern,” Chinn said. “We try to make the environment fun, but at the same time provide world-class treatment.” Stephanie Menta, clinical director for the Wayne center, said Footprint to Recovery takes a holistic approach to treatment and includes a wide range of treatment modalities including yoga therapy, art therapy, massage therapy and acupuncture. They are also considering equine-assisted therapy. “We are not a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all kind of treatment center,” she said.
Caitlin Simpson, regional director of clinical operations for Footprint to Recovery, said the Wayne site has the capacity to provide treatment to about 60 patients a day. “We won’t have that many people here every day because we have different programs,” Simpson said. “We designed this space to be comfortable. It makes it easier for us to help them.
The Wayne site passed its inspection last week and expects to be licensed and open by mid-month. An open house for the community is in the planning stages. The facility will start with a staff of 10, but that number is expected to at least double within the first year. Simpson said at the South Jersey site, which opened four years ago, the center’s average daily census has grown to about 90 patients.
Among the features and services of the Wayne facility will be addiction rehab for young adults and adults; flexible treatment hours and individualized treatment planning; co-occurring and dual diagnosis care; individual, group and family therapy, research-based addiction treatment; relapse prevention and continuing care planning. The site will offer 12-step programming, 12-step programming alternatives, gender specific groups, medication management, spiritual support, vocation services, diet and nutrition counseling along with experiential therapy.
Specific programs planned for the center include:
LGBTQ+: designed to specifically address the unique substance abuse, sexual health and co-occurring mental health issues for those individuals identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and all other non-hetero-normative conforming persons.
Seeking Safety: An empirically studied, integrative treatment approach developed specifically for patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse.
Complex Trauma Group: A program led by a licensed trauma therapist that intertwines dialectical behavioral therapy and mindfulness to guide individuals through the process of learning new skills and healing.
“We cannot overstate the dire need in addressing the substance abuse crisis in the greater eastern Pennsylvania area with a tangible and proven solution,” said Eliott Wolbrom, chief marketing officer of Footprints To Recovery. “ We are ecstatic at the opportunity to open our brand new facility in Wayne. Our facility has been purposely outfitted to speak to our patients, largely 18-35 years old, and will give them a relatable and comfortable space to heal and transform. We look forward to collaborating with businesses and organizations in the area as well as local and state governments on tackling the area’s addiction crisis head on.”
Footprint to Recovery is expanding into Pennsylvania a few weeks after Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf declared the ongoing heroin and opioid epidemic a statewide disaster emergency. The declaration, a first-of-its-kind for a public health emergency in Pennsylvania, will provide for increased access to treatment and enhanced coordination of health and public safety agencies. “While we have made progress in combating the heroin and opioid abuse crisis and drastically expanded Pennsylvania’s response, we are still losing far too many Pennsylvanians,” Wolf said when announcing the emergency. “I routinely challenge all commonwealth agencies to think innovatively about how they continue to address the opioid epidemic and seek solutions that last long beyond our tenure in this building. One such solution is to use the executive authority granted to me as the governor to waive statutory regulations that create barriers to treatment and prevention, prevent first responders and others from saving lives, and reduce efficiency of our response.”
Footprints to Recovery isn’t the only behavioral health care provider targeting the Philadelphia region — which is currently home to about a dozen inpatient psychiatric care hospitals. In December, CleanState Centers opened a treatment center on Columbus Boulevard in South Philadelphia. The facility is the Nashville company’s fourth in Pennsylvania, joining other sites in Williamsport, Wilkes-Barre and Scranton. It already has a provider agreement in place with Keystone First, the region’s largest Medicaid managed care plan. Earlier this year Recovery Centers of America, a King of Prussia-based operator of addiction treatment centers, opened its first center in this region in Devon. The company also has facilities in Mays Landing, N.J., and in Maryland and Massachusetts.
In November, New Jersey approved plans for developing 811 new adult acute care psychiatric beds statewide — the largest expansion of New Jersey inpatient capacity in 20 years. Universal Health Services Inc. of King of Prussia, Pa., will be adding 336 beds by expanding its existing hospitals in Burlington and Union counties and building new 120-bed medical centers in Monmouth and Passaic counties.
Author:
John George
Senior Reporter
Philadelphia Business Journal
Media Contacts:
Footprints to Recovery
Eliott Wolbrom
Chief Marketing Officer
(773) 231-5382
ewolbrom@footprintstorecovery.com
Original Article: here.
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