Pipeline: Hazelden Brings Telehealth Offering to Four New States; Autism Providers Expand

Hazelden Betty Ford’s virtual expands into four new states

Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation continues to grow its telehealth footprint, as the provider has expanded its RecoveryGo tool into four additional states.

RecoveryGo provides insurance-eligible tele-substance use disorder (SUD) services to individuals and groups through virtual intensive outpatient programs (IOP). Hazelden Betty Ford, the nation’s largest nonprofit SUD treatment provider, most recently rolled the tool out in Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming and Idaho.

In the newly added states, RecoveryGo services also include a free one-day virtual program for English- and Spanish-speaking families, as well as a virtual children’s program. Plus, additional recovery support resources — such as apps, podcasts and an online peer community — can be accessed through the platform.

Hazelden launched RecoveryGo in March 2020, with the platform having served thousands of people since its debut. To date, it is available in about 20 states. Hazelden’s goal is to have RecoveryGo up and running in all 50 states within the next couple of years as part of its plan to ramp up its national reach through telehealth services.

“The whole telehealth space will be where most of our future growth comes from,” Bob Poznanovich, the vice president of business development for Hazelden Betty Ford, told Behavioral Health Business in February. “We will be able to treat more patients in new ways and help other providers treat new patients in new ways as a result.”

Canadian psychedelics company adds American clinic

The Canadian psychedelic wellness company Novamind has completed construction on a new clinic in Draper, Utah, which will focus on integrative psychiatric care and clinical research.

The clinic, which is located about 20 miles south of Salt Lake City, will serve as a referral center for behavioral conditions such as depression, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). It is specifically designed to conduct psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and serve as a training site for clinicians.

Upon approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the clinic is looking to provide more psychedelic therapies and medicines including MDMA and psilocybin.

Psychedelics are federally classified as Schedule I drugs and are illegal to grow and sell, but they can be used by companies for research purposes. Oregon is currently the only state that allows psilocybin to be used for mental health treatments in supervised settings.

The new Draper clinic is Novamind’s fifth in Utah, increasing the number of clinics in Novamind’s network to eight. The company is also planning to expand to other states by the end of the year.

“Opening the new Draper site is in direct response to overwhelming patient demand at our clinics, but it’s also part of a much larger initiative,” Yaron Conforti, the CEO and director of Toronto-based Novamind, said in a press release announcing the new clinic. “Access to a broader range of treatments has never been more critical for people in need of mental healthcare, and Novamind is in a unique position to provide that access through our national expansion.”

Caravel Autism Health opens new center

Caravel Autism Health has opened its latest facility, located in Rothschild, Wisconsin.

The center, which is in central Wisconsin, provides one-on-one applied behavior analysis (ABA), which is widely recognized as a gold standard of autism care.

The Rothschild clinic is currently accepting appointments for children ages 2 to 18.

Headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Caravel has over 40 locations throughout Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Washington, Iowa and Idaho.

Founded in 2009, Caravel is owned by the private equity and venture capital firm Frazier Healthcare Partners. Last month, Caravel was extended a senior credit facility by private equity firm Monroe Capital.

Autism Learning Partners broadens reach

Autism Learning Partners (ALP), a national ABA provider, has opened a new location in Yonkers, New York.

The center, located north of New York City, provides in-home and in-clinic ABA services.

The Yonkers location is ALP’s fourth in New York state and its first in the New York City area. Overall, Pasadena, California-based ALP offers treatment in 19 states. Along with ABA, ALP provides speech, language and occupational therapies, along with diagnostic services in select regions.

ALP is owned by private equity firm FFL Partners.