University of Buffalo’s UB MD’s Addiction Medicine Practice Taps Experience of Local Healthcare Leader

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) January 2, 2012 -- The newly created Addiction Medicine practice of UB MD’s Department of Family Medicine has contracted with Success Stories, Inc. to capitalize on president, Thomas P. McNulty’s years of experience in behavioral health.

Success Stories was hired to create a three year business plan to help launch an addiction medicine practice under the administrative direction of Department of Family Medicine Chair, Dr. Thomas Rosenthal, Chief Administrator, Mary Ellen Ashe and Dr. Richard Blondell, a board certified addiction medicine specialist. The practice also includes Dr. Stella King, Dr. Lorne Campbell, Dr. Joseph Mure, Dr. Mohammadreza Azadfard and several nurse practitioners. In the very near future, the group will add a psychiatric nurse practitioner or a licensed clinical social worker to provide individual, group and family psychotherapy.

“No surprise to anyone, the need for a medical group focused on addiction medicine is tremendously needed in this community. With a dramatic increase in prescription drug abuse, earlier onset of alcohol use, poly-substance abuse, access to service issues, the serious medical complications created by alcohol and substance abuse and more than 3,000 DWI arrests in Erie County in 2010; the opportunity to blend addiction medicine, behavioral therapy and address medical concerns equals better patient care,” stated Thomas P. McNulty.

McNulty, a substance abuse and family therapist for years, brings clinical, management, program development, teaching, media experience and a network of critical connections to assist with the launch and growth of the practice. McNulty came to Buffalo to become BryLin Hospitals’ first Vice President of Marketing in 1988. During his tenure, he created Progressive Corporate Care, an employee assistance company (EAP), Primary Behavioral Health, a management service organization, and in 1995 began a parallel career in health talk radio starting on WBEN with Frankly Speaking. He served as President of the Citizens Board and has been co-chair of the Christmas is for Kids campaign for the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Buffalo and Erie County since 1999. He is a graduate of Leadership Buffalo 2001 and a Fellow of the Community Health Foundation of Western and Central New York’s Fellows Action Network. McNulty served as President/CEO of the Mental Health Association of Erie County and was invited to serve on the Erie County Department of Mental Health’s Alcohol and Substance Abuse Planning Committee since 2008. He was one of the co-founders of Px20 – a regional group of substance abuse and mental illness prevention groups.

Since 2003, McNulty has hosted Spotlight on Health currently on 96.1 JOY-FM and recently created Heads Up Business to address corporate behavioral needs in a more individualized fashion than most EAPs. This month he launched the Behavioral Medicine Association of WNY to foster information, referral, education and professional networking in medicine and mental health.

“It was Tom’s depth of knowledge clinically, managerially, and his extensive work with large physician groups like Rochester Independent Practice Association (RIPA), DENT Neurologic Institute, Excelsior Orthopaedics and the Buffalo Medical Group that proved critical to building this practice. His work with Px20, familiarity with the drug court system and the fact that he had oversight of BryLin’s Addiction Medicine division, including a 68-bed inpatient program in Alden, NY and four outpatient centers for two years demonstrated an impressive background that matched well with our needs,” said Mary Ellen Ashe, Chief Administrator of the Department of Family Medicine.

McNulty has been actively involved helping launch an outpatient addiction medicine practice in Amherst off Sweet Home Road. The practice will begin accepting new patients in mid-January 2012.

UB MD Addiction Medicine is involved in research, inpatient services at Sheehan Memorial, Erie County Medical Center and the new outpatient office in Amherst, NY.
Success Stories, Inc. is a management and marketing consulting firm in Orchard Park, New York founded in 1990.
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