Connecticut Substance Abuse & Addiction Treatment Center Meeting The Treatment Gap
Canaan, CT (PRWEB) October 14, 2004
Mountainside Treatment Center in Canaan, Connecticut, has been providing affordable residential treatment for substance abuse for over six years. Mountainside Foundation is a non-profit as described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Its innovative and unique treatment program wins widespread acclaim from treatment professionals, government and regulatory officials and, most importantly, from the thousands of individuals (and their families) who have gone through its program. Its unique, innovative and individualized treatment program has resulted in a dramatically higher rate of success for individuals remaining clean and sober than the accepted norm in the treatment field. Mountainside is licensed by the State of Connecticut Department of Public Health.
The treatment center regularly operates at full capacity (50 beds) with an average waiting list of 25 persons. In a field whose supply side has been soft and contracting since the mid-1990’s, Mountainside has thrived and is on the cusp of a major expansion as it meets the treatment gap that has been left behind in the wake of closings of scores of treatment centers.
Recognizing this desperate need for additional beds, Mountainside’s board recently committed to building a new center that will provide 130 beds. “The overwhelming success of our market-based model and the excessive demand for treatment encourages us to take the next practical step which is capacity expansion,” said Mountainside Chief Financial Officer Martin Fedor.
What enables Mountainside to thrive is its innovative market-driven business model that is centered on quality of treatment, affordability and a non-profit business model that is widely praised for its effective cost-controls while maintaining the highest standards of excellence. Mountainside Treatment Center operates consistently in the black and meets 90% of its operating costs from the low fees charged for its services.
Historically many treatment centers built their businesses when average daily costs for treatment were between 0 and ,500 a day; they operated in a system that required labor-intensive reporting processes both on the business and the treatment side. This resulted in the creation of business models that were top heavy with hefty fixed costs. Treatment centers became largely bureaucratic in the amount of paper work required.
“As more and more treatment centers closed we saw the desperate need for affordable residential treatment,” said Martin P. Fedor. “Equally importantly, after studying what had caused the failures of other good institutions in the field, we built a non-profit business model that works. It is for this reason that we are setting out on a campaign to build a new center that will provide 130 beds. It is interesting and exciting to be fielding enquiries and requests from around the country to bring the Mountainside model nationwide,” continued Mr. Fedor.
Mountainside’s focus and commitment has been on the quality of its treatment program. Recent studies show dramatically how the quality of care during treatment impacts outcomes. Mountainside’s unique program includes Individual and Group Counseling; Therapeutic Challenge; Addressing Nicotine Addiction; 12-Step Education and Meetings; Spiritual Enhancement including Guided Meditation, Yoga, Hypnosis, a Native American Stone People’s Lodge; Family Counseling; Work Therapy; Adventure-Based Counseling; Writing, Art and Music Workshops; and, for those needing it, the opportunity to obtain one’s GED. And, two very special innovative components:
The Outreach Program – residents go into high schools and talk with students about staying away from cigarettes, alcohol and illegal drugs – the lesson of prevention. The success of this program has resulted in growth beyond its original scope and definition.
The Job Training Program – Mountainside operates a public restaurant near its facility in Canaan; individuals live in a Halfway House on our property and are employed in the restaurant learning the basic job, social and work skills so necessary to better the person’s chances of remaining clean and sober upon returning home.
For additional information contact:
Mathew Eakin, Director of External Affairs
Mountainside Treatment Center
187 Route 7
Canaan, Connecticut 06018
www.mountainside.org
About Mountainside: Mountainside Treatment Center is a non-profit substance abuse treatment center that provides affordable treatment for those suffering from addiction. Mountainside’s treatment program includes a Job Training program and an extensive Outreach Program where senior residents go into neighboring high schools and teach the lesson of prevention.
Board of Directors
Donald W. Van Dyke, Chair
Lawrence Kudlow
David Lindstrom
Terence R. Dougherty
John MacLachlan
Myra Mahon
Frederick Tedford
Dian Vince
Officers
Terence R. Dougherty, CEO
Martin P. Fedor, CFO
Bruce K. Drever, Executive Director
Holly A. Cole, Ass’t Executive Director
Founders’ Committee
Drew Lewis, Chair
Donald W. Van Dyke
Terence R. Dougherty
David Lindstrom
Myra Mahon
Dian Vince
Martin P. Fedor
J. Thompson Steel (1927-1998)
John Reagan “Tex” McCrary (1910-2003)
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