NEWS & EVENTS

Summer is here following a busy spring packed with excitement! From our Lafayette Street Clinic Grand Opening to the Middletown Pride Parade, we kept ourselves busy in our communities. In our last newsletter, we were close to opening our Lafayette Street Clinic, a new location in Hartford where our Doctors Clinic staff and patients (currently on Main Street) will move when we begin accepting patients starting June 23rd! But that's just the beginning! We have hosted many exciting events this spring, including our most recent Community Forum on Burnout, our Annual Years of Service Awards, and a documentary screening of an independent film focusing on four women in recovery.  It's been a jam-packed spring, and there's so much to share. Keep reading for some special announcements and updates!

Our Community Forum was a success! Burnout: More than Just Stress, was a wonderful, insightful, and at times even funny conversation about occupational and personal burnout, shifting legislature, personal coping strategies, systemic changes, the effect of burnout in children, and so much more! The Root Center is proud to offer free events like this as part of our Advanced Recovery Institute (ARI). The ARI is committed to research and training to elevate clinical care. It is our hope that by organizing these forums that we will help expand our understanding and awareness of topics that impact our communities. Special thanks to all of our panelists for your insight and expertise: Samantha Alzate LCSW , - Owner of Mindful Transformations Brent Heineman, MD/MPH - Psychiatry Intern at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine Christian Damiana - Public Policy Manager at Mental Health Connecticut, Inc. Dr. Cassandra Holinka, PsyD - Clinical Psychologist & Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Jay Lasser, M.D - Founder of The Center for Work Stress Reduction Kristine Olson , M.D., M.S. - Chief Wellness Officer for Yale New Haven Health

Back in 2023, Root Center for Advanced Recovery's education initiative, the Advanced Recovery Institute, offered its first ever grant to fund research by Dr. Yifrah Kaminer and his team at UConn. Now in 2025, the study is finally published!

From Left to right: James Classon, Root Center Clinical Supervisor, Elliott Pollack former Board Member, John Mohring, Root Center Board Member, Steven Zuckerman, Root Center CEO and President, Arunan Arulampalam, Mayor of Hartford, Bruce Simmons, Root Center Board Chairman, Patricia Rehmer, former DMHAS Commissioner and Board Vice Chair, William Schumann, Root Center Board Member. David Louden, Root Center Board Member, and Joseph Sirko, Root Center Director of Facilities.

The Root Center is excited to announce our first ever CHARITY GOLF TOURNAMENT! However, this charity golf tournament won’t be to benefit Root… on September 25th, 2025, we will host a charity golf outing at Lyman Orchards in Middlefield, CT, to benefit St. Vincent de Paul Middletown . Root Center feels strongly about nonprofits supporting nonprofits, and we are thankful for the work St. Vincent de Paul Middletown performs to help the residents in our state, particularly in Middletown, where Root Center proudly operates two sites. Many Root Center patients benefit from their critical services, and we are proud to support such an important mission helping some of the most marginalized members of our community. So, dust off those clubs, and get ready to play for a great cause! More information on signing up and sponsoring coming soon!

In the fall of 2024, Root Center opened its first clinic in New Haven County- Branford. We are so appreciative of WTNH CH 8 for featuring our new site, and allowing us the opportunity to share all of the amazing things the Root Center does! We loved sitting down with reporter, Lisa Rovello, and talking all about what we do to provide high quality care to our clients every day. Our new site in Branford is conveniently located inside of the Stony Creek Medical Center. This site serves both adolescents and adults. You can learn more about it here ! Thank you again to CTBUZZ through WTNH CH8, and if you would like to read the full article, it can be found here .

March is quickly approaching, and with it comes the celebration of Womens' History Month ! This year, to honor the strength and resilience of women, the Root Center will be hosting a screening of a new award winning documentary , Recovery City, featuring the powerful stories of four Massachusetts women battling substance use disorder and fighting for recovery. Join us at the Manchester Parkade Cinemas on March 20th for the 6 p.m. screening and 7:30 p.m. q&a segment with the Director and some of the women featured in the film! Register for the event here !

Fall at the Root Center was a season packed tight with exciting developments!  In our last newsletter, we were just one month away from opening our first clinic in New Haven County, and since then, our Branford location is now accepting patients, and has been featured on WTNH CH 8! We also hosted our Fall Community Forum on, "The Loneliness Epidemic", welcomed our newest Chief Medical Officer, published our Annual Report , and held a Grand Opening for our first Residential Treatment Clinic in New Britain on Whiting Street... just to name a few. We then recently celebrated the end of the year with our annual staff holiday party. It was a great time to get together and have some fun with music, food, raffles, and good company! Keep reading to learn more...

Steven Zuckerman, Root CEO/President, Margaux Farrell, Root Chief of Staff, Ashley Hickey, Root Chief Operations Officer, Jenn Succi, Root Chief Financial Officer

We are thrilled to announce the promotion of Ashley Hickey, LPC, LADC, former Director of Operations to Chief Operations Officer. Ashley has grown tremendously in her time at Root. She has also previously served as a Clinic Supervisor at our Middletown Clinic, and most recently, Director of Operations. She has been with the organization for more than five years, and has expertise in managing multiple service lines for both adults and adolescents. She is well versed in the operations of medication assisted treatment (methadone and the other forms of MAT), outpatient behavioral health services, psychiatric medication management, and is dedicated to the vision of our organization. As we continue to grow as an organization, it is wonderful to see one of our own use their knowledge and experience to progress into a greater leadership role. Way to go, Ashley!

In the fall of 2024, Root Center opened its first clinic in New Haven County- Branford. We are so appreciative of WTNH CH 8 for featuring our new site! We loved showing Reporter, Jillian Andrews, around our newest facility and talking all about what do to provide high quality care to our clients every day. Our newest site in Branford is conveniently located inside of the Stony Creek Medical Center. This site serves both adolescents and adults. You can learn more about it here !

The Root Center is excited to announce the promotion of Aly Fox, LPC, ATR as the Clinical Supervisor of the Middletown, Saybrook location and new Branford location! Aly has been with the Root Center for a little over three years and has been promoted within from IOP counselor to Senior Counselor, and now, Clinic Supervisor. She brings with her years of experience in clinical work expanding from hospital and inpatient work, in-home therapy, and outpatient care- including her own personal private practice. Throughout her career, Aly has cultivated an eclectic approach to therapy as well as clinical oversight and supervision of staff. She completed her Master's Degree at Albertus Magnus College and is dually licensed as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and Art Therapist (ATR). She graduated top of her class and received the academic excellence award in 2019. She additionally is a Certified Integrative Mental Health Professional (CIMHP) with a focus in nutrition and mental health. She has always had a calling to connect and work with people, whether that be in a therapeutic relationship or supporting and mentoring growing therapists. From a young age, she has expressed empathy and compassion for those around her. She is continuously committed to enriching the lives of the people around her and provides support in any and all capacities. Aly is excited to be a part of the continued growth here at the Root Center. With her new role, she is going to continue to pursue the growth of the MOB sites and maintain the positive regard and compassion for all clients we serve!

Root Center is excited for the return of Allison Pons as our New Britain Residential Clinic Supervisor! Allison returns 5 years later to bring her expertise and passion for her work to Root Center's most exciting undertaking yet... our very first Residential Treatment Facility! Allison began her field work many years ago as an intern at Root Center for Advanced Recovery in one of our Methadone Maintenance Treatment Programs. She is now excited to be return to the Root Center, in her new role as Residential Clinical Supervisor. Allison returns to RCAR after further developing her career in the addictions and mental health field. Allison is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC), and Internationally Certified Gambling Clinician (ICGC-I). She also has more than 8 years of clinical and administrative experience in outpatient behavioral health care settings. She has enjoyed providing individual and group services to adolescents and adults and working as part of multidisciplinary teams to support a whole-person approach to recovery. Allison is excited to be part of RCAR’s first residential facility, and introducing this new service line to the community and patients we serve, providing high-quality mental health and addictions treatment. Welcome (back), Allison!

Root Center is so excited to welcome (back) Lisa Barbati as our Director of Quality & Compliance! Lisa returns to Root after obtaining her BSN and developing her career in Quality and Compliance. Lisa is Board Certified in Addictions Nursing (CARN) and has over 33 years of Nursing experience in Acute Hospital Care, Inpatient Behavioral Health Services and Outpatient Addiction Treatment Services. She served Root Center for 24 years in several prior capacities as a staff nurse and RN supervisor and is the 2019 RCAR recipient of the Nightingale Award for Excellence in Nursing. Most recently, Lisa held roles in Quality Improvement as a Clinical Quality RN with Intercommunity, Inc., and as a Virtual RN with Trinity Health of New England. In these roles, she honed her skills in Quality Assurance, Clinical Documentation Compliance, Data Analysis, and Ambulatory Care Risk Management. She's worked closely with leadership in Quality and Compliance, acted as a change agent and subject matter expert for several Quality Improvement initiatives, and assisted in developing tools and training on Quality & Compliance platforms. Lisa is dedicated to getting the facts right and maintaining high credibility. She thrives on research, making sense of things, and finding balance. She advocates for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, serving as an advocate for Autism and the LGBTQ community. Lisa is excited to be back in her new role as Director of Quality and Compliance at Root.

Our Community Forum on, "The Epidemic of Loneliness: The Silent Sadness", was a success! Thank you to all of our wonderful panelists for sharing their time and expertise. It was a great evening filled with thoughtful discussion and conversation. The Root Center is proud to offer free events like this as part of our Advanced Recovery Institute (ARI). The ARI is committed to research and training to elevate clinical care. It is our hope that by organizing these forums that we will help expand our understanding and awareness of topics that impact our communities. Thank you again to our panelists: Andi Campbell, President of Wellspark Health, an EmblemHealth company. Dr. Peter Donato, Vice President of Clinical Services at Apple Rehab. Deb Bibbins, JD, MBA, Founder and CEO of For All Ages, a convener of CT Collaborative to End Loneliness. Dr. Saud Anwar, MD FCCP, State Senator, Deputy President Pro Tempore, Medical Doctor specializing in lung diseases and critical care medicine, occupational and environmental medicine. Allison Gaffey, PhD, FAHA, Assistant Professor at Yale School of Medicine. and Dr. John Nazarian, MD, Medical Director at Community Mental Health Affiliates, Inc. (CMHA), and future Chief Medical Officer of the Root Center for Advanced Recovery.