Creating Community Connections for Real Recovery
By BJ Williams, National Director of Referral Partnerships
At BHG, we believe in taking a whole-person approach to care and meeting people where they are. Knowing “where” they are is essential to how our new Integrated Dynamic Care Model (IDCM) works so that we understand how their living environments are impacting their life. Oftentimes people struggling with addiction are dealing with unemployment, housing and food insecurities – basic needs that can make or break any chance at real recovery. That’s why I’m proud to build out BHG’s first national referral partnerships plan and team to support our centers in connecting with life-stabilizing resources for our patients’ recovery journeys.
Since I began working for BHG in January, I’ve worked with a cross-functional team to develop a national plan that goes deep into our communities to create awareness of our centers with residents, city leaders, the courts, healthcare, financial, faith-based organizations and any social service you can think of who can refer patients as well as provide services and support for them.
Our three goals
- Get people into recovery.
- Connect people to resources.
- Educate to destigmatize addiction and co-occurring mental health conditions.
Our team structure
We currently have five Regional Community Partners (RCP) who have oversight of multiple states and markets. Each center has at least one Center Community Partner (CCP) who is the real expert in their local area and who helps with outreach and shares ideas and information with our RCPs or myself for areas that don’t have RCP coverage.
As part of the Joint Commission’s requirements, our centers are required to devote time each month to community outreach. Community outreach is both a business growth driver and a regulatory requirement and because of that our regional team is doing all that we can to balance the load for our center teams by making prospecting calls and documenting all outreach efforts in SharePoint and Salesforce. This lets the center teams focus on the essential face-to-face engagements supporting community networking, like local events and center tours, while still maintaining best-in-class treatment and recovery.
Every week, our RCPs, CCPs and myself meet to discuss outreach updates and ideas. For example, we’ve had people referred to our centers who’ve had trouble getting a cell phone. Our team built a partnership and collaborated with an organization called MASS (Minority Aids Support Services) that is linked to the Ryan White Foundation. Within that relationship, we learned that they help provide cell phones and minutes to patients who need them to stay connected and educated about their recovery. And if they participate in the MASS program, they will also provide free minutes to people living with HIV.
With partnerships like this and what BHG offers, we’re definitely making connections within communities just like this one in Virginia. BHG is the gold standard of recovery and these community collaborations demonstrate to our patients that we are walking alongside them on their journey.
First step: joining Chambers of Commerce
Being in and among the community is stronger than any billboard we could ever have. The best entry point for us is to join Chambers of Commerce in all our centers’ communities and schedule facility tours. People are starting to reach out to our team and invite us to events and meetings. Over and over, we’re hearing, “We didn’t know you were here. Thank you for all that you do. You saved this person’s life.”
We’ve had great traction and poignant moments that I hope to see spread across all our treatment centers. On June 9 at BHG –North Little Rock, the Chamber of Commerce proclaimed it National BHG Day as they gathered with our staff and community members for a ribbon cutting ceremony. And last month in Washington D.C., we attended an Open House for one of our newly renovated centers. The response was incredible and the time there was filled with joy and inspiration. I was blown away when a woman from a local church (who is a patient) started preaching and another patient joined in by singing Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come,” which is one of my favorite songs.
We’re starting with a blank canvas. I’m so passionate about what we’re doing through community outreach to lead the way in addiction recovery. For me, it’s beautiful to watch moments like that in D.C., Virginia, Arkansas and other markets I have visited and I look forward to seeing our momentum continue. At the end of the day, it’s all about helping the communities thrive and saving patients’ lives!
