MANCHESTER, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Strive Health (Strive), a leading provider of outpatient addiction and behavioral health treatment programs, today announced Laurence M. Westreich, MD has joined Strive Health as Director of Corporate Wellness and member of Strive’s Board of Advisors. In this role, Dr. Westreich will lead Strive’s Corporate Wellness initiative, which aims to advance the understanding of the impact of substance use problems on the workplace – and the benefits of facilitating workers’ access to programs and treatment – to help employers protect their employees, mitigate risk, and build a healthier, more productive workforce.
“We are delighted to have Dr. Westreich join our organization and lead our Corporate Wellness initiative,” said Eric Frieman, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Strive Health. “Dr. Westreich’s extensive experience and success in a number of leadership roles with the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry and Major League Baseball uniquely prepare him to lead our corporate wellness operation. We are pleased he is joining us in this new role to help set a new standard for how substance use problems are addressed in the workplace.”
Dr. Westreich comes to Strive with over 25 years of addiction, mental health and leadership experience as well as board certification by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in general psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, and forensic psychiatry. Prior to joining Strive, Dr. Westreich served as the President of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP), where he led many projects aimed at advancing the standard of care for individuals with substance use disorder and mental health needs. Dr. Westreich also serves as the consultant on behavioral health and addiction to the Commissioner of Major League Baseball and is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry in the Division of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine.
Oversee Corporate Wellness Initiative
As Director of Corporate Wellness, Dr. Westreich will spearhead the development and implementation of workplace-specific corporate wellness policies, procedures, and programming designed to best serve and address the specific issues as it relates to relapse, abstinence, recovery, mental health and performance among working professionals.
Additionally, Dr. Westreich will work closely with Strive’s corporate partners to provide clinical insight, expertise and leadership to develop, evaluate, and implement effective, comprehensive and customized protocols that meets the unique needs of each organization. Strive and Dr. Westreich will also provide guidance and tools to help employers better understand and manage substance use problems and mental health issues in the workforce.
New Standard for Addressing Substance Abuse in the Workplace
“I am honored and excited to be joining Strive to lead the Corporate Wellness initiative. This is a pivotal time in our industry, and I look forward to the opportunity to help Strive set a new standard for how companies address substance use problems in the workplace,” said Dr. Westreich. “It is a privilege to be a part of Strive’s commitment to advancing addiction and mental health treatment and creating comprehensive, population-specific protocols designed to best serve the specific needs of its clients.”
Veterans and First Responders in the Workforce
Eric Golnick, CEO of VFR (Veteran & First Responder) Healthcare, the sister company of Strive Health, added “we are extremely excited to have Dr. Westreich leading our Corporate Wellness initiative, which we are confident will further enhance our effort already being made as an early adopter of New Hampshire’s ‘Recovery Friendly Workplace Initiative.’ We look forward to working with Dr. Westreich to provide guidance and tools to help employers better understand and manage substance use problems and mental health issues in the workplace, especially among the veterans and first responders in the workforce.”
About Strive Health Centers for Recovery and Community Health
Strive Health (Strive) was founded to become the premier provider of high-quality, cost-effective, evidence-based outpatient addiction and behavioral health treatment in the United States. Strive programs and services are designed to provide high-quality, trauma-informed and client-centered outpatient treatment to help individuals in recovery maintain their life in the “real world” as they rebuild healthy, self-directed lives, reach their full potential, and achieve long-lasting outcomes.
Strive is setting a new standard of care in the addiction treatment industry by redefining the continuum of care and providing the quality of care normally found in a higher-acuity treatment setting at a cost that is significantly lower. Strive programs allow patients to recover through coordinated, collaborative treatment and recovery resources within the community, making reintegration into the “real world” a primary goal of treatment.
Further, Strive programs utilize evidence-based treatment modalities and offer medication-assisted treatment (MAT), such as Vivitrol, to patients as clinically and medically appropriate.
Strive Health is proud to have developed a network of Centers for Recovery and Community Health united in its mission of providing the highest quality care to individuals and families striving to live healthy, self-directed lives.
