Executive Director Joe Mahoney Celebrates First Year Successes & Looks Ahead

It’s been a busy year of firsts for Ellen O’Brien Gaiser Center Executive Director Joseph Mahoney.

From expanding our service area to encompass Greene County to ensuring all clinical areas met newly issued regulations from the American Society of Addiction Medicine to achieve full ASAM compliance, Gaiser has tackled both nuts and bolts tasks and aspirational goals since Joe first took the helm on May 24, 2021.

Gaiser staff in each program earned certification in trauma-informed care, and Joe plans to keep the momentum going − pursuing certifications specific to different patient and family populations, including gambling addiction certification this year. Expanding mental health support services via staff training and dual diagnosis certification are also upcoming focuses to equip Gaiser’s enthusiastic and committed staff with the latest information and tools in the field of addiction medicine.

We’ve enhanced medical services through the addition of our full-time Medical Director Dr. Tom Brophy, influxing Medication Assisted Treatment options across all our sites. Bolstering nursing services and our medical policies, we’re now able to accept clients with even more intense medical needs.

We were thrilled to announce Gaiser’s designation as a Center of Excellence for opioid use disorder treatment in April. Our team worked hard to achieve this recognition from the Pennsylvania Department of Health and we’re continuing to pursue goals that keep our programs at the forefront of addiction treatment.

We’ll continue to build on our MAT offerings in the coming year and are working hard to establish strong partnerships with community leaders and agencies to expand referral networks, bring more educational programs to the community and make outpatient services more accessible.

And, because none of what we do is possible without our caring, dedicated staff, we’re focusing on our own! We implemented a new employee assistance program, yoga and mindfulness sessions, ongoing training and development programs and employee recognition initiatives to keep our valued team members healthy and happy.

Congratulations on an exciting and productive first year with Gaiser, Joe! We look forward to many more to come!