GIRARD, Ohio – Nestled on the border of Mahoning and Trumbull counties, Ariel Johnson hopes the newest PATH Behavioral Healthcare location at 1616 E. Liberty St. will provide convenient, easy access to needed help.

“I think, really, our mission here is zero barriers to care,” said Johnson, regional manager. “We want to make sure that everybody has the proper access to whatever they need.”

Johnson said 1 in 5 residents in Ohio experiences mental illness, and service providers are limited, sometimes leaving long waits to receive care.

“Ohio is currently facing a mental health crisis,” Johnson said. “Positioning ourselves here allows us to provide much needed services to multiple communities.”

PATH celebrated its newest location with a ribbon cutting Thursday morning.

Along with Kimberly Harris, the office manager at the new location, Johnson is creating a team to offer individual therapy for a wide range of client-centered mental health diagnoses, including therapeutic support and nurse-led medication management support for the local community.

PATH provides services for conditions including attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, antisocial personality disorder, schizo-affective disorder, trauma for children and teens, bipolar disorder for adults, anxiety, depression and insomnia.

Case managers help clients navigate life by going out in the community, attending medical appointments and court hearings with clients. 

“They’re boots on the ground,” Johnson said. “They’re out in the community all the time. They are shoulder to shoulder with the clients.”

PATH has about 30 offices in Ohio, as well as facilities in West Virginia, Louisiana and Utah. Though the base model for PATH is the same at all of its locations, Johnson said facilities are able to gear treatment toward what is most needed in the community.

In her conversations with people in this area, Johnson said she sees a real need for more youth-geared treatment. 

Mental health treatment is available from age 3 through senior citizens with PATH. Additionally, Johnson said they work with schools throughout the state.

“I have therapists and case managers that go into the schools, and they see the kids right there on-site,” Johnson said. “It’s nice for the kids to have support in the school, and it’s nice for the parents because they don’t then have to go after work and take the kids to the appointments. It really creates a nice, smooth transition and flow for families.”

PATH, which stands for Positive Advocates Teaching and Helping, believes in creating relationships not just with clients but with other behavioral health support in the community. Johnson said she has been building relationships with representatives from BrightView Health, Belmont Pines, Valera Health, Mercy Health and MyCap.

“I’ve been humbled by the warm welcome I have received in this community,” Johnson said. “We’re already building relationships.”

Although PATH has access to therapists and case managers, many who will be working from home, Harris will be at the new office to greet patients and get them started. For those who do not have the knowledge or access to the technology for telehealth, Harris will be able to set them up on a computer for their therapy session.

The location also includes a conference room where Johnson plans to host group sessions, though she is still deciding which groups to launch first.

“This work is personal to me,” Johnson said. “I’m a person in recovery, and there were people waiting in offices just like this one ready to help me. And without that, I wouldn’t be here doing this today.”

More staff is needed at the new facility. PATH is hiring licensed therapists, case managers with experience in the field, nurses, LPNs and RNs, as well as psychiatrists. 

“We don’t want to see people have to suffer and wait,” Johnson said. “We want to see you in less than a week if we can. We want to see you today, because we know mental health illnesses don’t wait. Their symptoms are not waiting until you have an appointment.”

To schedule in-person or telehealth appointments, call 937 471 8189 or click HERE.

Pictured at top: From left are Melissa Benjamin, regional manager in Mansfield and Marion; Kimberly Harris, office manager in Girard; Ariel Johnson, regional manager in Girard; and Michelle Mackenzie, Johnson’s mother.