St. Joseph's looks toward vets' drug rehab

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January 13, 2009

New firm, new name, reputation solidly intact

By KIM SMITH DEDAM The Press Republican Fri May 14, 2010, 07:00 PM EDT

SARANAC LAKE — Despite a dire economy, one local company is looking to break ground for a multi-million-dollar facility.

That will create jobs and expand services.

St. Joseph's Rehabilitation Center recently won a contract — one of four in upstate New York — to provide addiction counseling to U.S. veterans.

Soon to be renamed St. Joseph's Addiction Treatment and Recovery Centers, the company also just won designation as a "Best Place to Work," one of just 20 small-to-medium-sized businesses to earn the honor in all of New York.

REGENERATION
Regeneration is central to the momentum of success thriving here.

St. Joe's accomplishments are reflecting internal operations and spreading into the community.

"Part of what we try to do is be a place where the agency responds to individual needs," said CEO Bob Ross, who came on board a floundering organization less than two years ago.

As St. Joe's started rethinking opportunity — both inside and out — Ross said, they realized the new veterans program to counter addiction fit the historic mission founded by Franciscans friars nearly 30 years ago.

In a similar vein, they began exploring an addiction counseling training program to retrofit Camp Gabriels, keeping it viable in the state prison system, a plan still under development.

They also are looking to launch a pilot non-hospital detoxification program with Adirondack Medical Center, reducing Medicaid costs by breaking a costly cycle of detoxification emergency care.

St. Joe's already has operations in Malone and Ticonderoga.

But rather than being inundated by expectation, the company plugs each step back into the core mission.

The result is a kind of sustainable sense of potential.

"I think mission grounds us a lot," Ross said. "The check for us is we ask: Is this what we should be doing?"

INTERNAL ASSESSMENT
St. Joe's Human Resources Director Katie Kirkpatrick launched an internal assessment, working with State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services Executive Deputy Commissioner Kathleen Caggiano-Siino, whom Kirkpatrick credits with much insight.

"We wanted to redefine our work as a profession of choice," Kirkpatrick said.

An evaluation process last March earned a 64-percent overall response from employees, engendering 23 steps toward improved work conditions, seven of which have been fully implemented.

The internal adjustment regenerated work goals based on employees' ideals.

It is also a model of sustainability.

People don't necessarily always work "up" a corporate ladder, Ross said; bigger isn't always better.

"There are ways to stay in a position and be constantly challenged."

Support for all 137 employees is delivered in new programs that encourage wellness, connect work and education goals and adapt work schedules around family time.

The company even created a computer purchase plan, so every employee can afford to buy a home computer.

"We have encouraged a development plan for each employee, working with a life coach," Ross said.

BEST TO WORK FOR
The internal review led to designation as a Best Company to Work For, an award program run by the New York State Society for Human Resource Management.

The win was announced in December, though the company won't find out what position in 20 it holds until April, when the award is presented in Albany.

A collective and growing sense of accomplishment at St. Joe's has snowballed.

"Having people be ready to do more interesting things with their jobs creates a more dynamic workplace," Ross said.

The company is also creating several rewarding volunteer opportunities for members of the larger community.

For more information, contact Katie Kirkpatrick at 891-3801, Ext. 242.

E-mail Kim Smith Dedam at: kdedam@pressrepublican.com