A 45-year-old Maryland addiction treatment provider has radically expanded its services.
Ashley Addiction Treatment announced that as of Oct. 1 it is providing telehealth mental health services for all Maryland residents, regardless of whether the patient has a substance use disorder (SUD) diagnosis.
Ashley, a nonprofit organization that is headquartered in Havre de Grace, Maryland, said in a release that telehealth therapy service marks a “significant departure from substance use disorder treatment provider models, where patients often address their addiction first before being referred out for mental health support.”
The nonprofit touts the move as providing holistic care for not just patients, but also their family members, who may seek talk therapy.
Ashley’s expansion is perhaps the latest sign of an addiction treatment industry branching into new areas of care, and seeing telehealth as a fixture. Incorporated in 1979, the center began with residential treatment at its main location along Chesapeake Bay and added an outpatient center in nearby Bel Air, Maryland.
During COVID, Ashley began to implement telehealth SUD services, which it has kept on providing.
“We’re continuing to see a demand for virtual services, as it makes treatment more accessible,” a company spokesperson told Addiction Treatment Business.
The start of telehealth also coincided with a spike in revenue for the nonprofit. According to nonprofit tax disclosures collected by ProPublica, Ashley’s revenue climbed to $45.9 million in 2021, compared to $38.4 million the prior year, a 19% increase.
But Ashley Addiction Centers revenue dropped to $36.4 million in 2023, and the organization reported a net income loss of $3 million. The vast majority of monies coming into Ashley are from the residential and intensive outpatient programs.
Other providers have expanded operations following a government contract.
A spokesperson for Ashley declined to say whether government or another outside grant or donation was the impetus for this move.
The spokesperson did say that Ashley is “now accepted by Maryland Medicaid as a provider” and is “in the process of contracting with insurance payers.”
While telehealth allows clinicians and patients to connect anywhere with an internet connection, there remain geographic limits. Ashley cannot help patients outside the state of Maryland, unless one of its therapists is specifically licensed to provide services in another state.