Frontier Health Receives
American Graphic Design Award

 Frontier Health receives an Award of Excellence from Graphic Design USA in their annual American Graphic Design Awards for Frontier Health’s Fiscal 2008 annual report, "Renewing Hope," and 2007 report, “Building on a Half Century of Service.” Only 15 percent of the more than 10,000 entries were recognized for their excellence. Winners are eligible for reproduction in Graphic Design’s yearly 300-page publication.
  This nearly four decades-old competition is open to advertising agencies, graphic design firms, corporate, institutional and publishing in-house departments, and more. It honors outstanding new work of all kinds across all media: print and collateral, advertising and sales promotion, packaging and point-of-purchase, internet and interactive design, broadcast and motion graphics, corporate identity and logos.

Tennessee Division of Developmental Disabilities is Four-Star Agency

 Frontier Health’s Tennessee Division of Developmental Disabilities services received a Four-Star Agency designation for 2008-‘09 by the Tennessee Division of Mental Retardation Services for the agency’s excellent performance regarding quality management of services and client support.
  The award recognizes Frontier Health’s role in helping people with developmental disabilities achieve healthy, secure, and meaningful lives. “The staff at Frontier Health should feel a much deserved sense of accomplishment,” said Deputy Commission Stephen H. Norris.
   Senior Vice President of Tennessee Developmental Disabilities and Vocational Rehabilitation Services Sharon Good said, “Our team has worked hard to provide the best quality service. We are proud to be known as a Four-Star Agency and we want our families and those we serve to know we truly care that much.”
   E. Douglas Varney, President and CEO of Frontier Health said the recognition reflects the quality Frontier Health’s clients receive in the Developmental Disabilities Division at Frontier Health, “The commitment of our staff ensures adults with development disabilities receive the supports they need to achieve their full potential and greatest level of independence.”
   The Tennessee Division of Mental Retardation Services established a comprehensive quality management system to measure the quality of services and supports provided by community-based providers.

  The foundation of the system is outcome-based quality assurance survey tools designed with the assistance for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The system now has two complete years of survey results for day, residential, clinical, and support coordination agencies.
   Four-star agencies must receive 96 percent or greater overall compliance on Quality Assurance surveys for two consecutive years and a rating of Substantial Compliance in Safety and Security.
   More than 250 community-based providers statewide were reviewed through outcome-based quality assurance survey tools, trending data related to client contact, client complaint, and other quality-related data. Frontier Health is one of seven agencies in Tennessee to receive the Four-Star Agency designation.

Frontier Health Programs Net CARF Accreditation

   CARF International announced that Frontier Health received a three-year term of accreditation through June 2011 for nineteen program areas.
    The CARF survey summary noted exemplary conformance to standards through Frontier Health’s sharing of performance improvement and outcome information with persons served, personnel, and other stakeholders and was commended for the agency’s very secure financial footing and an unusually strong financial position in times that are very challenging for many behavioral health organizations.
    The survey summary noted several other areas of strength including access and availability of information about Frontier Health’s programs and services, excellent use of technology from the website to the electronic record, to the management of performance data, access to crisis services, and Frontier Health’s seamless integrated services within the organizations continuum of care.

   Crossing Point was recognized for its use of the Circle of Courage model of care.
    Employment Services were recognized for their career exploration tool and user-friendly, easily understood employment services handbook for clients. The Frontier Industries

   Thrift Store was recognized for its clean, affordable thrift store that provides vocational retail training and serves the community with low-cost household and personal items.   

   Adventure Program’s non-punitive approach to behavior modification was acknowledge. Frontier Health was commended for its “extraordinary effort” to help clients become home owners.

   The latest accreditation is the third consecutive three-year accreditation the international accrediting body has awarded Frontier Health. It is the highest level of accreditation awarded and shows the organization’s substantial conformance to the CARF standards.

   Frontier Health put itself through a rigorous peer review process and demonstrated to a team of surveyors during an onsite visit that its programs and services are of the highest quality, measurable, and accountable.
    CARF is an independent, nonprofit accrediting body whose mission is to promote the quality, value, and optimal outcomes of services through a consultative accreditation process that centers on enhancing the lives of the persons served.   

   Founded in 1966 as the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, and now known as CARF, the accrediting body establishes consumer-focused standards to help organizations measure and improve the quality of their programs and services.
    The program areas accredited are:
• Case Management/Services Coordination for
  Adult Integrated Developmental Disabilities /
  Mental Health
• Adult Integrated Alcohol and Other Drugs /
  Mental Health Services
• Children and Adolescent Integrated Alcohol
  and Other Drugs/Mental Health Services
• Adult Crisis Intervention Integrated Alcohol
  and Other Drugs/Mental Health Servcies
• Children and Adolescent Crisis Intervention
  Integrated Alcohol and Other Drugs/Mental
  Health Servcies
• Detoxification for Adult Alcohol and other
  Drugs / Addictions
• Children and Adolescent Intensive Family-
  Based Integrated Alcohol and Other Drugs /
  Mental Health Services
• Adult Intensive Outpatient Treatment:
  Integrated Alcohol and Other Drugs/Mental
  Health Services
• Children and Adolescent Intensive Outpatient
  Treatment: Integrated Alcohol and Other Drugs
  / Mental Health Services
• Children and Adolescent Out-of-Home
  Treatment Integrated Alcohol and Other Drugs
  / Mental Health Services
• Adult Outpatient Treatment Integrated Alcohol
  and Other Drugs/Mental Health Services
• Children and Adolescent Outpatient Treatment
  Integrated Alcohol and Other Drugs/Mental
  Health Services
• Adult Residential Treatment Alcohol and Other
  Drugs/Addictions Services.
• Employment Services:
  o Community Employment Services: Job
     Development
  o Community Employment Services Job
     Supports
  o Community Employment Services Job-Site
     Training
  o Employee Development Services
  o Employment Planning Services
  o Organizational Employment Services

Frontier Health Creates Language Needs Coordinator

   Celinda Fuchs is Frontier Health's Language Needs Coordinator, a job created to address Frontier Health's growing need for language interpretation within the company's 69 sites in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.
    Celinda provides direct interpretation for Frontier Health's Spanish-speaking clients and referrals, and receives calls from Frontier Health programs for language interpretation services, provides follow-up on No-Shows for services requiring client interpretation, and reminds clients of upcoming appointments.
    Although she provided Spanish language services previously as Administrative Support Services Coordinator, her new role addresses the growing demand for language interpretation. She is working on Spanish versions of specific Frontier Health forms and client information packets and is developing a resource list for available community services, health care providers, legal services, and other agencies that provide language assistance.
    Celinda utilizes Frontier Health's contract with LLE Language Services to secure other language interpretation services via LLE-LINK. She will also provide staff education on assisting Frontier Health clients with language needs, cultural diversity, and interpretation techniques. Her role also unifies Frontier Health's compliance with Title VI requirements.
    Frontier Health is the region's premier provider of behavioral health, mental health, substance abuse, developmental disabilities, and vocational rehabilitation services.

Frontier Health Initiates Peer Recovery Program

   All across the country millions of Americans are impacted by the devastation of substance abuse. There is hope. Recovery is possible and many persons are achieving a lifestyle free of drugs and alcohol. Self-help groups such as A.A., N.A., Counseling programs and a national effort called, "The Faces and Voices of Recovery," are examples of a growing movement focused on recovery.
    Research shows the rate of recovery is significantly greater when an individual's family, friends and community are involved in the helping process. In addition, individuals in recovery are themselves an example to others facing similar issues and can offer insight, motivation, support and most importantly hope that recovery is possible.
    Frontier Health has taken the initiative to develop the Peer Recovery Service and will be employing recovering persons to fill this vital role in the communities the agency serves in Lee, Wise, Scott counties and the city of Norton.
The first step in launching this service is the recruitment of local citizens interested in peer recovery.

Frontier Health Receives ARCH Angel Award

   Jeanne Price, Regional Housing Facilitator for Tennessee's Creating Homes Initiative; Sarah Fleenor; and Janie H. Snyder, Ed.D., Frontier Health Board President, were on hand at the Gala to End Homelessness: An Evening of Angels sponsored by the Appalachian Regional Coalition on Homelessness.

    Frontier Health received the event’s first ARCH Angel Award.

Willow Ridge: Frontier Health's Women's Alcohol & Drug Treatment Center

  Frontier Health is expanding residential substance abuse treatment with the opening of Willow Ridge, a part of Johnson City's Magnolia Ridge.
    The facility, which opened Oct. 9, will continue Magnolia Ridge's program goal to address the needs of adults 18 and older with a primary alcohol or other drug-dependency, and simultaneously treat clients diagnosed with a co-occurring mental illness.
    "We're responding to increasing demand for residential alcohol and other drug services," said Randy Jessee, Senior Vice President of Specialty Services. "Willow Ridge will be smaller and more intensive and will include issues such as denial management and co-occurring mental health disorders."
    Willow Ridge will provide a relapse prevention counselor, an alcohol and drug addiction counselor, and nurses. In addition to these programs, Frontier Health provides intensive substance abuse treatment at its outpatient sites in all 12 counties.

Sorenson VRS Available at Communication Center for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing

   Frontier Health’s Sorenson Video Relay System was installed at CCDHH. Sorenson's use is growing among the local deaf population. Not only is it easy to use and reminisce of what George Jetson used in the 1960s, it helps that the equipment is available at no charge to a person who is deaf. The potential Sorenson user must also have a high-speed DSL connection.

   Other individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, or family members and friends who would like to communicate with someone who has a Sorenson VRS, may call and make an appointment with CCDHH to use the equipment.
   What's exciting is that if you already have Sorenson, you may contact CCDHH via their Sorenson at (423) 434-4271. Or, call 423-434-0447 for more information, TTY 434-0448. For more on Sorenson, check out their website at Sorenson.

WRAP: Self-Empowerment Program Leads to Independence

Victory Center Launches New Statewide Initiative
to Empower People Diagnosed with Mental Illness

   Frontier Health’s Victory Center kicked off WRAP, a statewide initiative for people with a mental health diagnosis. WRAP, the Wellness Recovery Action Plan, empowers people to achieve, “personal responsibility,” for their wellness as part of Victory Center’s rehabilitation program.

   Victory Center teaches job readiness and job seeking skills, and provides employment opportunities. The result of the combined Victory Center and WRAP program is greater independence.

   Self-empowerment is not a new concept for Victory Center. The new initiative just expands our current program. We help the individual understand their illness and they use this information to lead a more independent life.

   Information on illness, medication, side effects, symptoms, and triggers leads to independence. If they recognize and manage symptoms early, it helps reduce the need for hospitalization, and increase their chance of success. As they learn more about themselves, they can reach a point of self-empowerment.

   WRAP helps people learn to “do for themselves,” without relying on someone to do tasks for them. They make decisions regarding their care including pre-crisis and post-crisis planning. If hospitalization is needed, the personalized plan dictates where they want to go in an emergency and what medications are effective and ineffective.
    Ultimate independence hinges on the individual’s ability to obtain and keep a job. Staff at Frontier Health’s Victory Center in Johnson City teaches the skills necessary to find a job and be successful.

   “Program and employment services staff walk individuals through the process from beginning to end. They teach job readiness skills, interviewing skills, and on-the-job training,” said Mary Fultineer, Victory Center Division Director.
    As they become stable in their job, the employment specialist increasingly encourages the person work on their own.
    Victory Center serves consumers diagnosed with serious and persistent mental illness. Individuals, case managers, outpatient therapists, and other health care professionals make referrals.
    Frontier Health, through services such as WRAP, works to create environments that help each person realize their full potential. Fultineer says, “WRAP will help each person overcome their mental illness and will hopefully lead them on a path to personal independence.”

ARCH Helps Bring $2.6 Million in New Funding to Region

   More than $2.6 Million in new Department of Housing and Urban Development funding is designated for our region thanks to the work of the Appalachian Regional Coalition on Homelessness, and its’ participants.

   HUD’s Keith Richardson and Theresa Thompson announced the recent Continuum of Care grant funding of $643,000 awarded to these providers:
• Terry Cunningham, Executive Director of Kingsport Housing & Redevelopment Authority, $195,000 to continue/expand the Shelter Plus Care.
• Sam Fann, Manna House in Johnson City, $121,000.
• Dr. Jean Daniels and Vicky Thomason, Catholic Charities, $64,000.
• Eric Miller, Legal Aid of East Tennessee, $34,000 to initiate a program to address housing discrimination that can cause or continue homelessness.
• Frontier Health, $229,000 (during a three year period), Magnolia House, a transitional housing program sponsored by Frontier Health, to assist homeless men and women.

Creating Homes Initiative Brings $21.5 Million to Region

   Through the Creating Homes Initiative, the Appalachian Regional Coalition on Homelessness, under the direction of Frontier Health's Jeanne Price, has garnered more money than any other region statewide.

   Region 1 has brought in more than $21.5 million in three years to create new, quality, affordable, and permanent housing for 672 individuals diagnosed with mental illness.
    Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities (TDMHDD) launched the first phase of the Creating Homes Initiative in August 2000 at the Tennessee / Kentucky Housing Institute.

   “What is so impressive is that Region 1 initiated housing efforts almost one year after the larger regions in the state, yet Region 1 has brought in the most funds,” said TDMHDD Commissioner Virginia Trotter Betts. “I commend the hard work put forth by all those involved to make this housing initiative such a great success.”
    Through the partnership with Creative Homes Initiative and Frontier Health, Jeanne Price was hired and began working with the statewide initiative and to expand ARCH.

   “Region 1's Creating Homes Initiative began in the second phase. The first phase included Memphis, Jackson, Nashville, and Chattanooga, based on those regions need for housing,” said Marie Williams, Mental Health Executive Director of Recovery Services with TDMHDD.
    The total leveraged statewide to date is $101.9 million, exceeding the state's initial goal of providing 2,005 homes by 2005. The actual total: 4,468 new, quality, affordable, and permanent housing options were developed.

CEO E. Douglas Varney Celebrates 30 Years of Service

Frontier Health's President and CEO E. Douglas Varney is celebrating 30 years in 2004 of providing service for Frontier Health and the Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia region.
A special recognition from Gov. Phil Bredesen and several resolutions in Tennessee and Virginia acknowledge Varney's impact in the region and the states that are served by Frontier Health.   

   Gov. Bredesen sent congratulations to Varney as an, "Award of Merit in recognition of 30 years of faithful service in the best interests and in the highest traditions of the State of Tennessee."

   The Tennessee House of Representatives passed House Joint Resolution No. 687 acknowledging, "the exceptional effort and dedication shown by E. Douglas Varney in meeting the needs of persons who have mental illness, substance abuse addiction, and developmental disabilities with a degree of excellence unmatched in Tennessee's behavioral health community." Reps. Steve Godsey, Jason Mumpower, David Davis, Matthew Hill, Jerome Cochran, and Nathan Vaughn sponsored the resolution.
    The Tennessee Association of Mental Health Organizations passed a resolution recognizing his, "distinguished record of accomplishments in the behavioral health field since 1975 as a clinician, administrator, and advocate."
    Dick Blackburn, executive director of TAMHO, reflected on Varney's state involvement. "His experience and insight are invaluable in evaluating and influencing public policy initiatives that will have potential impact on the behavioral health delivery system in our state," Blackburn said. "More importantly, perhaps, is the example he provides to others in the behavioral health field through the personal dedication and the genuine passion that he demonstrates in working with his peers throughout the state to keep quality services in place for persons with mental illness or addictive disorders who rely on the publicly funded system of care."
    Frontier Health Board of Directors Chairman Gary Mabrey, President/CEO of the Johnson City Chamber of Commerce said, "Doug is a consummate professional whose team mirrors his approach to service. He is more than a CEO, but a man whose years of involvement in the field of mental health have made a huge difference."
    Planning District One Behavioral Health Services passed a resolution acknowledging his, "vision, perseverance, and innovation," and his, "outstanding contributions he has made on behalf of the residents of Lee, Scott, and Wise Counties, and the City of Norton."
    Frontier Health's Executive Team agrees Varney sees life through a kaleidoscope. "While others see problems and challenges, Doug sees endless ever-changing opportunities. Through both his example and his leadership, he has been responsible for developing excellence in others. Every member of our executive team would tell you that Doug's mentoring has led them to a more evolved level of professional development than they thought possible," Terry Kidd, Ph.D, Senior Vice President of Tennessee Outpatient Services.
    Varney entered the mental health field as a residential tech prior to receiving a master's degree from East Tennessee State University and becoming a Licensed Psychological Examiner. He moved up the ranks at Kingsport Mental Health Center where he developed the agency's first "day treatment" program, helped build its first freestanding mental health center and led to it becoming a not-for-profit 501c3 agency - separate from Holston Valley Hospital and Medical Center in 1982. Varney provided critical leadership in establishing Rainbow Homes, housing for mentally ill individuals throughout Region 1. The homes, now a division of Frontier Health, have provided continuous housing since their establishment.
    Recognizing a need to shelter domestic violence victims, Varney was instrumental in helping a community committee establish Safe House, a shelter for victims of domestic violence in the early '80s. (Safe House merged with Holston Services Inc. in 1990.)
    Programs developed under Varney's watch included therapeutic nurseries, day programs for Alzheimer's patients, adolescent residential treatment for males and females, and an advocacy center to provide evaluation and treatment for victims of child sexual abuse.
    Also in the early 1980s, a crisis in neighboring Virginia left the three western-most counties with minimal mental health and substance abuse services. Varney helped re-establish services to Lee, Scott and Wise counties, and the City of Norton, through a contractual partnership that continues today between Frontier Health and Planning District One Behavioral Health Services.
    In 1989, under his leadership Holston Services contracted with Roller-Russ's Board of Directors to provide staff and operations for its residential and independent living facility for adults with physical handicaps. In 1990, he also provided leadership in the merger of the Holston Alcohol and Drug Council to increase clinical services and coordinate services for the co-occurring and Alcohol & Drug clients.
    Varney spearheaded a 1990 merger with a small sheltered workshop for adults with handicaps, Kingsport Center of Opportunity. The program continues to expand and grow today through the Frontier Industries division of Frontier Health, as it helps individuals with mental illness and development disabilities achieve their highest level of independence through opportunities for employment, training and placement.
    In 1993, Doug led the way in a merger with Bristol Regional Mental Health Center to create Central Appalachia Services, headquartered in Kingsport. A later merger with Bristol Rehabilitation Services further expanded services for job placement and training that is also now part of Frontier Industries. Central Appalachia Services then merged with Watauga Mental Health Services and Nolachuckey-Holston Mental Health Services as Varney worked with the leaders of the two other organizations to pool resources and provide a full continuum of behavioral health, A&D, and mental retardation services.
    Each merger Varney helped bring together had the primary goal to better utilize funding, improve services, and provide a greater continuum of care for clients by providing an umbrella of administrative and professional services.
    Varney has served as President of TAMHO twice, in 1983 and 2001, and is currently Chairman of the Legislative Committee and a member of the Finance Committee. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Community Mental Health Committee-Political Action Committee.

   Varney has been at the helm of Frontier Health since the organization formed in 1997, through the merger of Central Appalachia Services, Watauga Mental Health Services and Nolachuckey-Holston Mental Health Services. Varney's long history in the region began in 1975 at Kingsport Mental Health Center and was CEO of Central Appalachia Services when Frontier Health was formed.

CEO E. Douglas Varney Recognized by Peers

NASHVILLE —(12/07/04) The Tennessee Association of Mental Health Organizations awarded the 2004 Volunteer Leadership Award to E. Douglas Varney, president and CEO of Frontier Health. Varney, a member of TAMHO's Board of Directors since 1979, was recognized by his peers for his personal sacrifice as an uncompensated volunteer who works tirelessly with a, "strong commitment to TAMHO and the publicly-funded behavioral health system in Tennessee."

  Varney was honored for going beyond what would be reasonably expected and demonstrating, "highly effective leadership in a very complex and ever-changing field."

   "Doug Varney is currently one of the longest-serving members of the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Association of Mental Health Organizations," said Dick Blackburn, executive director of TAMHO.

  "His experience and insight are invaluable in evaluating and influencing public policy initiatives that will have potential impact on the behavioral health delivery system in our state.

  "More importantly, perhaps, is the example he provides to others in the behavioral health field through the personal dedication and the genuine passion that he demonstrates in working with his peers throughout the state to keep quality services in place for persons with mental illness or addictive disorders who rely on the publicly funded system of care."
  Varney has served as President of TAMHO twice, in 1983 and 2001, and is currently Chairman of the Legislative Committee and a member of the Finance Committee. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Community Mental Health Committee-Political Action Committee. 

  Varney has been at the helm of Frontier Health since the organization formed in 1997, through the merger of Central Appalachia Services, Watauga Mental Health Services and Nolachuckey-Holston Mental Health Services. Varney's long history in the region began in 1975 at Kingsport Mental Health Center and was CEO of Central Appalachia Services when Frontier Health was formed.
    TAMHO is a statewide trade association representing 22 Community Mental Health Centers and other community-owned provider corporations that have historically served the needs of the mentally ill and chemically dependent citizens of Tennessee regardless of their ability to pay. The TAMHO member corporations have been the virtual cornerstone of the community-based behavioral health system throughout the state since the 1950s.

   Today the TAMHO member corporations make up the primary provider network for the delivery of a wide range of clinical, supportive, and residential services through TennCare Partners, the managed Medicaid program that has constituted the public system of care in Tennessee since 1996.