Celebrating Graduates and Alumni
At Spectrum and NERC, nothing is more important to us than the success of our clients. The people that pass through our programs and go on to find health and happiness are living proof that recovery is possible. The example they set is crucial to the recovery community, supporting and inspiring others along their own ...
National Recovery Month: The Impact of Peer Recovery Centers
Peer recovery centers are crucial to the recovery community, serving as safe meeting places where people in all walks of recovery can both give and receive support. At these free centers, individuals participate in recovery meetings, find parenting and employment resources, learn helpful skills like anger management and financial planning, attend yoga and mindfulness classes, ...
National Recovery Month: Spectrum’s Voices of Recovery
A hallmark of substance use disorder and treatment is that there is no one recovery journey—everyone experiences different roadblocks and successes on different timelines, and almost always requires a unique combination of support services along the way. For National Recovery Month, we spoke with several of our clients and staff members in recovery themselves to ...
Spectrum Health Systems’ Chief Medical Officer Receives Award for Outstanding Contributions to Opioid Treatment
Spectrum Health Systems, Inc., a longtime not-for-profit organization providing a comprehensive continuum of addiction treatment throughout Massachusetts, and a range of recidivism reduction programming for justice-involved individuals throughout the country is pleased to announce that the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence (AATOD) has awarded Dr. Jeffrey Baxter, Chief Medical Officer at Spectrum ...
Get to Know Lisa Blanchard, Chief Clinical Officer
With a background in both the clinical and administrative sides of behavioral health care, Lisa Blanchard knows that making treatment accessible is key to affecting positive change amid the addiction epidemic. It’s a philosophy that she embodies in her role as Chief Clinical Officer at Spectrum Health Systems, where she works to design programming and ...
Spectrum Health Systems Appoints Alicia Hashey and Athena Haddon to Key Leadership Roles
Spectrum Health Systems, Inc., a not-for-profit organization providing a comprehensive continuum of addiction treatment throughout Massachusetts, announced two new hires today, continuing the growth of its leadership team. Athena Haddon re-joins the team as Executive Director of Peer Services and Recovery Support, and Alicia Hashey comes on board as Controller for the accounting department. “I’m ...
Jeannie Saunders Reflects on Leaving—and Coming Back—to Spectrum
Coming from a billing background in the healthcare industry, Jeannie Saunders first joined Spectrum Health Systems in 2016. She had been unsatisfied with her previous position and a friend that worked at Spectrum had encouraged her to apply. Jeannie followed the recommendation, and the next thing she knew, she was starting at Spectrum as a ...
Celebrating Graduates and Alumni
At Spectrum and NERC, nothing is more important to us than the success of our clients. The people that pass through our programs and go on to find health and happiness are living proof that recovery is possible. The example they set is crucial to the recovery community, supporting and inspiring others along their own ...
National Recovery Month: The Impact of Peer Recovery Centers
Peer recovery centers are crucial to the recovery community, serving as safe meeting places where people in all walks of recovery can both give and receive support. At these free centers, individuals participate in recovery meetings, find parenting and employment resources, learn helpful skills like anger management and financial planning, attend yoga and mindfulness classes, ...
National Recovery Month: Spectrum’s Voices of Recovery
A hallmark of substance use disorder and treatment is that there is no one recovery journey—everyone experiences different roadblocks and successes on different timelines, and almost always requires a unique combination of support services along the way. For National Recovery Month, we spoke with several of our clients and staff members in recovery themselves to ...
Spectrum Health Systems, Inc. Wins Two Contracts with the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services
Spectrum Health Systems, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to providing a comprehensive continuum of evidence-based addiction treatment, announced it was recently re-awarded two contracts by the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services. Spectrum was the incumbent provider for both solicitations.
Suicide Prevention Month: 3 Tips for Helping Loved Ones
Mental illness is one of our nation’s greatest public health issues, with suicide being the tenth leading cause of death in the United States, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Suicide, addiction, and depression are often intertwined as co-occurring disorders. It’s a vicious cycle that is hard to escape. Individuals struggling with ...
International Overdose Awareness Day – Where it Began and Its Impact Today
According to the CDC, the first-known wave of opioid overdoses began with the rise of opioid prescriptions in the 1990s. At the time, many pharmaceutical companies and prescribers did not have enough research about the potency and addictive nature of these medications. As methadone and semi-synthetic opioid usage began to increase in 1999 and into ...
The Hub & Spoke Model: A Client’s Perspective on Rapid-Access Addiction Treatment
Like many people who begin misusing substances, Roslyn didn’t immediately see that she was developing an addiction. She started using opioids here and there, would try to stay clean for a while, and then start using again. It was a pattern that continued to get worse and worse, until a series of personal tragedies forced ...
3 Reasons People Avoid Seeking Addiction Treatment
Addiction may go untreated for a variety of reasons. Individuals may be reluctant to seek treatment because of the associated stigma, the potential costs, or they may live in an area where treatment is not easily accessible. Here, we take a closer look at these barriers to drug and alcohol treatment and provide some answers ...
Employee Spotlight: Meet Karen Hewitt, Regional Program Director for Spectrum’s Millbury and Milford Outpatient Treatment Centers
We’re excited to shine the spotlight on another one of our outstanding employees: Karen Hewitt! Karen is the Regional Program Director for Spectrum’s Millbury and Milford Outpatient Treatment Centers, where she is responsible for the clinical, financial and environmental operations of both programs as well as overseeing the outpatient intake departments. Karen wears a variety ...

