Lakeview joins Hazelden Betty Ford Patient Care Network

Press Release: Lakeview Center, an affiliate of Baptist Health Care, has joined the Hazelden Betty Ford Patient Care Network in a collaboration that will expand addiction treatment services for individuals and families in Northwest Florida and the surrounding region.

“Our goal for this collaboration is to provide more opportunities for quality treatment to those impacted by opioid addiction and other substance use disorders,” said Shawn Salamida, president of Lakeview Center Behavioral Health Services. “We are excited to work with a trusted organization like Hazelden Betty Ford on exciting initiatives such as expanding access to care in rural areas—a need for many families in our region.”

Pensacola-based Lakeview Center is the first Florida member in the Hazelden Betty Ford Patient Care Network, a growing group of collaborators from across the nation working together to share knowledge and best practices, extend the continuum of care, and improve quality and outcomes for their patients.

“One mutual focus for our two organizations is telehealth,” Salamida said. “In order to expand treatment to rural Florida, we plan to develop a virtual care model that will allow some patients to access individual and group therapy, as well as other recovery resources, right from their home.”

The Minnesota-based Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is a national nonprofit that provides comprehensive inpatient and outpatient addiction and co-occurring mental health treatment for adults and youth. It has 17 sites across the country—including a treatment facility in Naples, Florida—as well as extensive education, prevention, research, advocacy and publishing resources. Its Patient Care Network is the first of its kind in the addiction treatment industry.

“As a center of excellence in our field, we are dedicated to sharing our expertise and learning from other respected, high-quality providers such as Lakeview Center,” said Bob Poznanovich, Hazelden Betty Ford’s vice president of business development. “By working together with a common focus on quality, comprehensive care that is coordinated and person-centered, we can better meet the complex, growing needs of our patients and communities, and improve outcomes.”

Lakeview Center, a prominent nonprofit health care leader in Northwest Florida, provides behavioral health, vocational and child protective services in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties. It has several locations in the Pensacola area, including The Friary, a full-services addiction treatment center for adults.

“We are thrilled to welcome Lakeview Center as a collaborative member in our Patient Care Network,” said Poznanovich. “We know Lakeview Center has played a valuable role in the community since last month’s active-shooter tragedy at Naval Air Station, and we have a deep respect for its trauma-informed care and the breadth and quality of all of its services. Lakeview Center will bring a lot to the Hazelden Betty Ford Patient Care Network, and together, we hope to bring even more to the people and communities we serve.”