Please enjoy this article written by our CEO, Shane Hudson, which was featured in the Estes Park Trail Gazette on February 26, 2025. You can find the original article here.
My name is Shane Hudson, and I joined Harmony Recovery in February 2024 as CEO following 17 years in behavioral healthcare in Kansas with the last 6 years serving as CEO of a non-profit addiction treatment center. I am honored to be part of an agency with such a long history of successfully serving those who are struggling to manage the chronic disease of addiction. Additionally, I am excited to continue innovating at Harmony Recovery to provide the best options and outcomes to those we serve.
Harmony has a history of innovation. In fact, in 1969 when mainstream healthcare was not doing enough to treat those with addiction, Harmony was founded in Estes Park to provide cutting edge social, spiritual, clinical, and medical care via a multidisciplinary team. That was an exceptional start in a healthcare field that lacked all of the necessary options for patients, and those principles that Harmony stood for back then continue to be exceptional today in a healthcare field that often lacks all of the necessary options for those with an addiction. Since that time, Harmony has provided care to over 25,000 individuals from Colorado and across the country.
In the last year, we have been busy here at Harmony. We have completed a merger with AllHealth Network, a leading Colorado behavioral healthcare non-profit based out of Douglas and Arapahoe counties. We have joined the Colorado Hospital Association as we look to create patient care pathways for those in need of our services who are leaving medical settings. We completed a strategic plan to understand what services and options patients are looking for when considering residential addiction treatment as well as how to best support patients to achieve successful health outcomes. We have updated our curriculum in order to maintain the 12-step philosophy that many have benefitted from at Harmony while introducing non 12-step options, cognitive behavioral therapy, trauma specialty groups, co-occurring specialty groups, enhanced spirituality services, and enhanced family programming. We have updated our name to Harmony Recovery and have a new website at www.harmonyrecovery.org.
We have begun accepting Medicaid insured patients at Harmony Recovery for the first time. Addiction is an equal opportunity disease that can affect anyone, and we know plenty of Coloradans with Medicaid insurance are in need of quality residential addiction treatment. As a Colorado non-profit working to better recognize addiction and the need that exists for care, we are proud to promote access to our services.
This is an exciting time for Harmony Recovery and our services continue to be as necessary as ever for those living with a substance use disorder. While 17% of Americans ages 12 years and older could be diagnosed with a substance use disorder, only 24% are showing up in treatment settings. We have work to do in order to better treat the chronic disease of addiction and to reduce the stigma around addiction so that patients can more openly talk about their healthcare needs with healthcare providers.
The Harmony Recovery team appreciates the support the local community has shown us. I have been working to get to know community leaders and agencies over the last year to collaborate and strengthen the care we deliver. If anyone in the community would like to support Harmony further, here are a couple of ways to do so.
Transportation to and from Harmony Recovery is free for our patients, and we are always looking for ways to ensure that they have access to transportation options. We are looking for volunteer transportation drivers. If you or someone you know is interested, you can reach me at [email protected]. I would be happy to visit with you more about our services, provide a tour of campus, and discuss what volunteering to provide transportation would look like.
Consider becoming a Harmony Recovery donor. We have a Giving tab at the top of our website that provides an easy way to donate. If you would like to discuss other ways to give or get involved at Harmony, you may reach out to me to learn more. I would gladly meet with you to provide a tour of campus and visit further.