Mental health and addiction cannot be separated – not in reality and not in treatment. As an organization dedicated to treating the whole person, we’re happy to announce the latest addition to our clinical team – Dr. Roger Bayog, Spectrum’s newest psychiatrist. Dr. Bayog has an extensive history of treating co-occurring disorders all over the world.
Recently, we sat down with him to discuss his dedication to treating both mental health and addiction.
What makes you so passionate about working in the field of addiction treatment?
I’ve been involved in addiction psychiatry for a long time, and it’s clear to me that the current crisis we are experiencing is extensive. I am committed to helping alleviate it.
What brought you to Spectrum Health Systems?
Over my many years in the industry, I’ve kept a close eye on the treatment centers that provide excellent care. I was lucky to have an opportunity to meet the people moving Spectrum forward and talk with them about the organization, the extent of its services and how they are improving the quality of care standard within their programs.
Joining the team is my attempt to continue helping people with co-occurring disorders heal.
What does your role at Spectrum entail?
I spend a lot of time with clients at each of our many different treatment locations. When a clinician determines that there is a psychiatric component to somebody’s addiction, or by request of the family, I conduct an evaluation and help create a robust treatment plan to address both the disease of addiction and the client’s mental well-being.
I am also working with a great internal team to put together a platform that will allow the central knowledge and expertise in this arena to be easily accessed and utilized by treatment centers and clients farther away.
What are you hoping to accomplish with Spectrum?
First and foremost, we are hoping to have dynamic psychiatric care readily available to all of our clients. We want to be on the forefront of providing early diagnosis and personalized treatment that enables people to truly live a happy, healthy life following treatment.
We will continuously observe the population to gauge what other services we should be implementing, and how to best ensure mental health providers work together with addiction treatment providers.
The biggest issue with our current system is the lack of adequate access to mental health assessment, diagnosis and treatment. Co-occurring disorders are not at all rare, and Spectrum has made major advances toward fully integrating treatment and providing holistic services. It is a well-defined and discipled approach that will continue to see success.
What do you like to do outside of work?
Our work is important, but I make it a point to have fun and enjoy the quality of life. Lately, I have been playing a lot of golf – it serves many purposes for me. I exercise, challenge myself and meet great people.
To learn more about how Spectrum Health Systems and the New England Recovery Center incorporate mental health treatment, give us a call at (800) 366-7732. For more information about our career openings, please visit our careers page.
