When Trish Collett joined the staff of Community Care of West Virginia as a physician’s assistant, she was the fourth medical provider on a staff of 23 people. Now, 24 years later, she is the CEO, running a sprawling operation that employs about 555 people.

Community Care’s services include primary, behavioral, and dental care, multiple pharmacies, and 50 school-based operations.

Popular descriptions of West Virginia include “Almost Heaven” and “Wild and Wonderful,” as outdoors enthusiasts know. However, the state is also known for its high rates of poverty in some areas and afflictions such as addictions and mental health problems.

The difficult conditions make hiring and retention challenging, but Community Care has found ways to succeed. “We have brought a lot of hometown people back to their communities,” Collett said.

Beyond that, they get some employees while they are still young. Community Care developed a summer internship program for high school students that starts a week after school ends. The six-week program brings students in to work part-time in various settings, ranging from the information technology department to the pharmacy. Some have returned after graduation to work as pharmacy techs and in other roles, Collett said. “We’re really proud of them,” she added.

Community Care has family-friendly policies that give staff a lot of flexibility. Some receptionists and other office staff have flexible schedules that allow for telecommuting. “Your family always comes first,” Collett said. Such policies help with staff retention, and most of the medical providers have been on board for 10 years or more.

Dr. Kevin Junkins, a psychiatrist who serves as the Chief Medical Officer for Behavioral Health, said staff retention is important for mental health practitioners because West Virginia is dealing with a high incidence of everything from depression to overdose deaths. “It’s a perfect storm…we’re in a mental health epidemic here,” he said.

Staffing includes six psychiatrists, about 50 therapists and a “small army of case workers,” Junkins said.

The case workers work directly with patients, staying in touch with them and coordinating services within Community Care and local social services agencies. They also take on administrative tasks, which allows providers to focus on seeing patients, Junkins said.

“We don’t want to be battling with insurance companies. It has really helped our providers be productive–but more importantly–be happy,” he said.

The effort has paid off in terms of staff retention. “We’ve not ever lost a psychiatrist,” Jenkins said.

Meanwhile, Community Care has worked closely with West Virginia Wesleyan College to launch a new clinical mental health master’s degree program. Students will gain practical experience at the health center and receive employment upon graduation.
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Collett, the center’s CEO, said collaborative programs such as the new degree program and Community Care’s partnership with West Virginia’s Mountaineer Food Bank give staff an intense sense of satisfaction. “This job is amazing. I don’t know how I’ll ever retire from it.”

BUCKHANNON, W.Va. — Last month, Community Care of West Virginia (CCWV) wrapped up its 2024 Summer Internship Program. Eleven Buckhannon-Upshur High School students participated in the six-week program.

​This was the third summer CCWV has held the internship program, which provides local high school students with the opportunity to explore careers in their community and gain life skills in the process.

“The program began in 2022 through a partnership with our local high school,” said CCWV’s Leah Chidester, who oversees the internship program. “Our goal was to equip students with the skills they need to succeed in the workforce and help them explore the possibilities that exist within their own community. We’ve successfully achieved that goal over the last three summers through the summer internship program, and we’re already looking forward to next year.”

Interns were placed in various areas within Community Care’s operations, including accounting, pharmacy, billing and coding, legal, credentialing, IT, maintenance, office management, recruitment, and training. The interns also attended group sessions with topics covering finances, higher education, and local city and county operations. 

Reprinted from My Buckhannon - July 28, 2024
​By Lily Hicks
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BUCKHANNON — Substance use disorder (SUD) is a treatable chronic health condition from which people can and do recover. However, many individuals struggling with SUD hesitate to seek the treatment they need due to the stigma they face.

Recognizing this barrier, Community Care of West Virginia (CCWV) has taken significant steps to address and reduce stigma through its Rural Communities Opioid Response Program, Neo-Natal Abstinence Syndrome (RCORP-NAS) grant. This federal grant focuses on improving the area’s response to SUD, specifically for pregnant women and parenting families.

This summer, CCWV will host two “Addressing Stigma” trainings in partnership with West Virginia Prevention Solutions and St. Joseph’s Hospital. These sessions aim to raise awareness and educate various community stakeholders about the impact of stigma on individuals with substance use disorder. Last month, a training session was conducted for all staff members at St. Joseph’s Hospital, led by WV Prevention Solutions executive director Elizabeth Shahan and St. Joseph’s Hospital opioid coordinator Shelby Wilson. Another session is scheduled for local law enforcement.

Dr. Kyle Miller, a CCWV physician who works with addiction medicine patients, emphasizes the pervasive impact of stigma on individuals with SUD.

“Addiction often affects patients’ lives from every angle — school, work, home life, relationships. It’s an all-consuming process, and stigma is just another layer they have to deal with when trying to make positive changes,” he explained. “When so many aspects of your life have been affected negatively by substance use disorder, seeking treatment feels like climbing a mountain, and stigma makes that peak feel even higher.”
Dr. Miller highlighted the importance of comprehensive and compassionate treatment.

“We try to address stigma through various routes, from being mindful of our language in clinics to incorporating peer recovery support specialists,” he said. “These specialists, with their lived experience in addiction and sobriety, bring a level of relatability to the team that’s invaluable.”

Elizabeth Shahan from WV Prevention Solutions underscored the importance of the RCORP-NAS grant and the collaborative efforts to combat stigma.

“Our role as a partner on the grant is to help train and address stigma in a variety of ways, working with all people on the continuum of care — prevention, intervention, treatment, recovery — to break down barriers,” she said. “Stigma is one of the top challenges facing the mental health field today, creating significant obstacles for individuals trying to access behavioral health services.”

Shahan further explained that stigma often prevents people from reaching out for help during times of crisis.
“People may turn to negative coping skills, like substance use, to self-medicate the effects of trauma because they fear being judged for seeking support,” she said. “Our goal is to address stigma using a science-based approach, understanding the social science behind it and how it keeps people from seeking help.”
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Through their concerted efforts, CCWV and its partners hope to create a more supportive environment for individuals with substance use disorder. By raising awareness and providing education, they aim to foster a community where individuals feel empowered to seek the treatment they need without fear of judgment.