Dr. Anita Johnston, our Senior Adivisor and Clinial Consultant's view:

What I hear is there are bright people here who are interested in the work they provide whether it’s the medical, therapeutic, or administrative piece.  There is predictability.  There is a solid structure in place.  There is cohesion.  There is teamwork.  There is a big beating heart at Focus.  Compassion. Caring. Belief.  The staff  have a genuine hope in recovery.  You believe in a quality of life.  An excellence in care.  And I think what drives it all is that tremendous heart you have for what you do.

The patients feel that.  It’s a beautiful building, yes.  But we respond to how we are treated in the beautiful building.  What you have here is quite rare. My friend and colleague Carolyn Costin says the most fundamental thing we have to offer patients is TRUTH WITHOUT JUDGMENT.  You have found a way to do that here.  Deliver truth without sounding mean or being mean.  Truth without judgment coming from a big beating heart for finding recovery and one day to be fully recovered.

• Physician: I am impressed with the quality of life we offer recovering addicts. We have this belief that life is worth living sober or recovered. We say it. We show how to do it. We have a psychiatrist, physician, nurse practitioner, executive nurse, and an entire clinical team all going above and beyond to make the patients stay a worthwhile experience.
• Counselor: Our use of metaphor and story telling. We weave that through everything we do allowing a shift in understanding. Metaphors bring awareness to deeper truths.
• Nurse Practitioner: Medically we are unique because we provide good medical treatment and therapeutic treatment. Integrated approach.
• Program Tech: Everyone here is above average. Every staff member is here because they want to be here.
• Counselor: There is a strong cohesiveness to the staff here. As a counselor I feel supported.
• Admissions: The smaller program allows for individualized care.
• Counselor: I love working here and I think the patients feel that. There is a team approach where we give and receive feedback quite well.
• Manager: It’s a caring, compassionate team who supports one-another.
• Dietician: It’s unique because we don’t make it about the food. We use the hunger or food as a symbol for what the patient is really hungry for.
• Program Tech: Focus can treat ED patients with a dual diagnosis.
• Program Tech: Staff have a genuine care for the patients – regardless of the staff’s role here. Every staff demonstrates a compassion for the individuals we serve.
• Nurse: Medically we take challenging patients. We will detox anyone regardless of impairment. We set appropriate criteria for levels of care to cover our bases, which allows us to succeed with the medical piece.
• Counselor: There is no fear in having a therapeutic relationship. We have hope for our patients, and families.
• UR/Discharge: I would say the integrity of the staff. Cohesion of teamwork. It is different than any work environment I’ve ever seen.