Colorado Centers 100% Updated
by Dwight Mussleman, Chief Development Officer
Since 2014, BHG has systematically relocated and renovated all six Colorado treatment centers to expand counseling capacity for the growing numbers of people there with OUD and SUD. Five of those were acquisitions and the Centennial was a de novo. Last year we expanded the Ft. Collins Treatment Center, and in June, the Centennial Treatment Center. For both, we added group counseling rooms by expanding into neighboring spaces.
Between March and August 2020, 597 Coloradans died of overdoses, which is up 40% from the 3-year-average of 424 deaths.* Ranked 11th in the U.S. for opioid use disorder, Colorado has 39,000 residents already aware that they had OUD, and another 184,000 adults reported but not receiving treatment for illicit drug use that same year.**
*Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
**Kaiser Family Foundation estimates based on the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, 2008-2018.
BHG Washington, D.C. Hosts Open House
On July 24, approximately 125 people attended an Open House at the newly renovated BHG-Washington, D.C. In attendance were BHG home office leaders Jay Higham, Dwight Mussleman, Amanda Karistai and BJ Williams. Business partners Davita Dialysis and the Department of Behavioral Health-DC also joined and provided healthcare information and resources to community members in attendance. Eight people requested information about becoming patients and two people were admitted the next day.
The community outreach event created educational opportunities for the patients and attendees, including a phase one tour of the newly renovated clinic where BHG invested nearly $1 million to convert a dilapidated building into a world-class, premier, healthcare facility.
The patients, teammates and community are appreciative of BHG’s goal of helping patients recover from their SUD in a place that truly depicts the high level of care that BHG provides. A special thanks to the BHG Leadership Team for traveling from Dallas to show their support. Every BHG employee played a role in making the event a success. Sdigehya Carter, Program Director, and Fatima Ours, Office Manager, did an outstanding job of coordinating, organizing and planning the event. With the positive feedback from the community, Sdigehya is going to start hosting quarterly community outreach events at the clinic.