BrightView Opens Treatment Center in Boardman

BOARDMAN, Ohio – Michelle Evans, a nurse practitioner from BrightView Health, has been on the move since the start of the year.

Evans started at BrightView’s offices in the Akron-Canton area, but transferred to Trumbull County after the company opened an office in Warren to treat addiction patients. Now she’s working in the newly formed Boardman center.

On Friday, BrightView celebrated the grand opened of its new location at 930 Trailwood Drive. BrightView Operations Director Bill Dragojevic said the company’s centers typically treat around 300 patients.

“We may have 100-plus people that come through on a daily basis,” added Dr. Navdeep Kang, chief clinical officer. “And in the end, we would be responsible for the chronic disease management of almost 1,000 people just from this one facility alone.”

BrightView provides therapy, medication-assisted treatment, outpatient programming and family counseling. Referrals are processed at the company’s call center in Cincinnati and are passed along to a specific center to determine the recovery plan.

“We have more of a holistic approach,” clinical supervisor Beth Layman said. “We have a case manager on board. Any need that the patient has, whether it’s seeking employment, obtaining a GED, helping with transportation, housing, medical care, we’re able to assist them with all those referrals.”

Most of the Boardman staff trained at the Akron-Canton locations while some moved over from Warren. Dragojevic said the staff will stay in the Boardman location, but the medical providers will move between locations.

Kang said the addiction center’s model incorporates multiple facilities in a target area – Youngstown and Warren, in this case. He said the reason is to provide service for people who live in one county but work in the other.

Evans will float back and forth between the Youngstown and Warren locations to generate continuity between the sites to develop better relationships with the patients. 

“A lot of times we’re dealing with some traumas and some other things,” she said. “It’s important that they feel they can come here and trust the people that are helping them make these big choices in recovery.”

Kang said personal stressors, such as finances, could become a trigger because of COVID-19. He said alcohol has become the greatest substance of concern.

“What we’ve seen is a 40% to 50% increases in alcohol sales, year over year, nationally and locally,” Kang said. “And we’ve seen a 400% increase in alcohol delivery in this country.

“That’s particularly worrisome to me because alcohol use, alcohol abuse, causes a lot of death and a lot of despair.”

Kang added that the pandemic will impact many despite their substance of choice. He said the best way to handle the issue is connecting patients to comprehensive treatment.

Kang spoke to the staff and guests before cutting the ribbon. He stressed the importance of treating their patients as people and being available.

“Yes, we have overdose increases in this country and in this county,” Kang said. “We have overdose mortality increases across the state of Ohio, including here locally. But that doesn’t have to be the case because we can offer help starting today.”

Pictured at top: BrightView expects to serve more than 100 people daily at its Boardman location at 930 Trailwood Drive.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.