Six County and Thompkins announce merger
Six County Inc. and Thompkins Treatment announced their merger during a press conference held Oct. 18 at the Muskingum Welcome Center in Zanesville. Pictured are James McDonald, chief executive officer Allwell Behavioral Health Services and Dan Carpenetti, chief operating officer, child, adolescent, family and transitional services Allwell Behavioral Health Services. Josie Sellers | Beacon
ZANESVILLE – Bambi Contreras’ two children are her whole world, but unfortunately there was a time when that wasn’t true.
Her world used to be full of darkness, guilt, shame, despair, alcohol and drugs. Contreras had lost her job, was a liar and cheater and had lost trust in everyone including herself, but then one day decided she wanted to be a survivor and not a victim so she called Six County.
“Councilors there meet you where you are and support you on your journey,” Contreras said. “They helped me develop coping skills, work on self-esteem, self-worth and boundaries and healthy ways to handle my emotions.”
Six County also helped her get back to work, find housing and she was connected with Thompkins Treatment so her children could receive counseling to help them get through this trying time in their life.
“Recovery is a family healing process,” Contreras said. “I’m alive and well because of these huge community assets.”
Six County Inc. and Thompkins Treatment hope to help even more people like Contreras now that they have joined forces under the new name Allwell Behavioral Health Services.
After conducting an analysis of their services, the two organizations determined that they could better serve their communities as a single entity.
“The merger will reduce costs through operational efficiencies, improve the quality of care, and make it easier to access our services,” said James McDonald, Allwell CEO and former president and CEO of Six County Inc.
He and Daniel Carpenetti, formerly of Thompkins and now the chief operating officer, child, adolescent, family and transitional services Allwell Behavioral Health Services, started talking about the merger two years ago.
“Our two organizations do similar work and clients would sometimes get confused about where to go for help,” McDonald said.
Carpenetti said the two organizations were already doing a lot of calibration and cooperating so consolidating seemed like the next logical step. However, this decision wasn’t made lightly. A consultant was hired and tasks forces were formed that ultimately showed this was the right decision for the organizations’ consumers.
“A lot of due diligence went into this,” Carpenetti said. “The Six County folks have been great to us and we’ve received good feedback on our people.”
While Six County offered services to all ages, Thompkins Treatment specialized in serving youth and families. Together, they will provide comprehensive services for every diagnosis and age group, as well as all payers, including Medicaid, Medicare and commercial insurances.
Allwell’s 20 integrated programs and services include counseling, psychiatry and medication management, a 24/7 crisis hotline, employee assistance program, residential services, work training and more.
The non-profit organization serves Southeastern Ohio in offices throughout Coshocton, Guernsey, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble and Perry counties.
For now Coshocton will still have two Allwell Behavioral Health Services locations. One will be at 1199 S. Second St. and can be reached by phone at 740-622-4470 and the other at 710 Main St. with the phone number of 740-622-3404. The goal in the next couple of years is to have the former Thompkins and Six County staffs relocated to one shared building.
“No one lost their jobs during this merger,” Carpenetti said. “Everyone who was employed with us already had the opportunity to stay with us.”
Chris Gallagher, a former Thompkins employee who is now an Allwell Behavioral Health Services site director in Coshocton, is excited about the future.
“This would not have happened if James and Dan weren’t willing to give up power,” she said. “Together we will service all people of all ages with any type of mental health issue and focus on wellness.”
Allwell, a private, non-profit organization serves more than 13,000 children, adolescents and adults at counseling centers, residential facilities and an eight-bed crisis stabilization center. It’s youth residential program serves children from all 88 Ohio counties.
“We will continually create and cultivate partnerships to strengthen healthcare throughout the region,” McDonald said. “Our goal is to always deliver evidence based expertise with compassion in an environment of respect.”
Contreras certainly is thankful for McDonald and Carpenetti’s staff.
“I met myself again at Allwell and I’m a firm believer that they can help you too,” she said.
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