Ballad Health expands addiction services program for women in Southwest Virginia 

Ballad Health leaders announced plans to open a second comprehensive addiction services center, including a residential treatment facility, expanding the Greeneville-based Strong Futures Tennessee program into Southwest Virginia.

When renovations are complete, the program will be hosted in the former MountainView Regional Hospital, allowing Ballad Health to provide critical services to families. Strong Futures Virginia will have maximum capacity for 59 patients in its residential programs, in addition to offering intensive outpatient and outpatient treatment programs.

“The opioid crisis and addiction have caused devastation across our country, but there is something unique about how Ballad Health is stepping up to address these challenges,” said Ballad Health Chairman and CEO Alan Levine. “Strong Futures is one of the few addiction service programs in both Tennessee and Virginia that allows women to reside on-site with their children, rebuilding their lives while they receive the care they need.”

In addition to receiving addiction recovery treatment, Strong Futures clients receive comprehensive support services including parenting skills education, free pregnancy resources, workforce development services and judicial support.

The new facility will be an expansion of Ballad Health’s existing Strong Futures program in Greeneville, Tennessee. Since opening in 2020, the Tennessee program has enrolled 684 families and opened a transitional living center for women and their children ages 9 and under. Nearly 100 women and 56 children have spent time in the living center since June 2021.

The Norton facility will expand on the treatment offerings currently available in Greeneville, offering clinically managed high intensity and low intensity residential services.

“In Tennessee, Strong Futures has already changed lives,” said Ballad Health Vice President and CEO of Behavioral Health Services Tammy Albright. “We’ve seen mothers overcome addiction, reunite with their children and rebuild their lives. Those successes showed us what’s possible, and why we needed to bring this program to Southwest Virginia.”

Blake Denton, one of four Strong Futures Tennessee graduates who now work as Certified Peer Recovery Specialists within the program, shared the importance of Strong Future’s transitional living center in her story.

“The team at Ballad Health and Strong Futures were there for every step of my recovery journey. They provided a safe place for me to live while I got back on my feet and regained custody of my daughters,” Denton said. “Strong Futures changed my life – and we’re on the path to changing many more here in Southwest Virginia.”

Since July 2024, Strong Futures Tennessee has had a significant impact on families who had Department of Children’s Services (DCS) involvement. Thirty-three families were fully reunited, while 77 improved their level of DCS supervision during the reunification process.

The expansion is funded through the support and partnership of the Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority (VOAA). VOAA Chair Virginia State Sen. Todd Pillion of Virginia’s Sixth District presented a check for nearly $1 million to fund the program expansion.  

“As someone who grew up here and continues to serve this region, I know firsthand the challenges rural families face,” said Sen. Pillion, a native of Lee County. “Distance, cost and limited access to care have too often stood in the way of recovery. That is why programs like Strong Futures are so important. They bring care close to home where families need it most.”

In addition to grant funding from VOAA and $605,000 from the Health Resources and Services Administration via appropriations from U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, Strong Futures Virginia is supported through two $500,000 grants – one from the Anne & Gene Worrell Foundation and another from the Rapha Foundation.

“We could not be here today without many individuals and organizations – leaders in Wise County and the city of Norton, our philanthropic partners and our Strong Futures team in Greeneville,” Levine said.

Jack Simpson, president of Ballad Health Foundation, echoed Levine. “Partnerships between Ballad Health, philanthropy and public sector organizations are making hope possible for the mothers and families who will be treated in Virginia,” Simpson said.

Rapha Foundation executive director Mark Vanover said the foundation’s name, which means “healing” in Hebrew, perfectly aligns with the focus of Strong Futures’ expansion into the foundation’s geographic focus area.

“We are proud to have supported programs like PEERHelp, and now, through Strong Futures, we continue that commitment to creating real change in the lives of those most vulnerable,” Vanover said.

The Anne & Gene Worrell Foundation President and Chief Operating Officer Holly Hatcher highlighted the organization’s shared commitment to Southwest Virginia, including to the foundation of the PEERHelp drug recovery program and to Strong Futures Virginia.

“We’re thankful to stand here today in solidarity with so many other community organizations and leaders to invest in the future of Norton and Southwest Virginia,” Hatcher said.

Renovations of the existing building for Strong Futures Virginia are set to begin this spring. Strong Futures is projected to begin seeing patients by the end of 2026.