Grafton Recovery Center Offers Hope to Recovery Patients

WESTON, WV (April 18, 2022) - Local resident Tiffany Lane was at her lowest point when she found herself in the care of Dr. Andrew Berardinelli, Director of the Grafton Recovery Center.

"I was at the lowest point of my life. I didn't have my children or my family. I didn't know what to do," said Tiffany. "By chance I ran into Dr. Andy and he saved my life."

Her chance meeting with the director of the Grafton Recovery Center meant coming to terms with her addiction to opiates, heroin, and methamphetamine. Her usage began in 2010 when her boyfriend at that time used opiates and Tiffany fell into the habit.

"I started with Percocet's (an opiate), which eventually led me to using at least six pills a day just to feel normal. Each of those pills would cost around $45 and when those pills became too expensive, heroin filled in. The heroin only lasted three months because my boyfriend was arrested, and I was implicated," she explained. "I was enrolled in the Taylor County Corrections program for two years and did very well. I never failed a drug test."

Her life seemed to be reaching a level of normalcy. After living in a homeless shelter for several years with her children, she had her own apartment and was managing a retail store in Fairmont. Unfortunately, she moved back to her hometown and again was caught up in a bad environment and lost her home. Her depression deepened, and she turned to methamphetamines.

This was when she ran into Dr. Berardinelli who sent her to a Morgantown clinic, and eventually a rehabilitation center. She returned to the Grafton Recovery Center and could not be happier. The Center was begun in 2018 to attack the problem that Dr. Berardinelli saw up close as an Emergency Department physician.

"We were seeing so many people coming to our ER with substance use problems and we had nowhere to send them. That is why we decided to start our own program here in Grafton," Dr. Berardinelli said.

The clinic approach is to address all the areas in a person's life, not just substance use. The Center strives to assist each patient with their social needs such as education, housing, and employment with the goal of improving every aspect of the person's life.

"This is the most personable clinic. Helen Darcus (office manager) is wonderful, and I have experienced several other programs so I can say this. My 30-day inpatient stay really helped me and changed my whole life," said Tiffany. "I didn't know how to be clean. The drugs really mess with the brain chemistry, but they helped me so much here."

Tiffany has been sober for 800 days and has accomplished much with a full-time job as a CNA. She said that it is good to be sober but attributes her recovery to Dr. Berardinelli. She felt that he really "stuck his neck out" for her and will do anything for his patients.

"I really hated myself during my addiction. But I will tell my story to anyone who will listen because I want to people to see no matter how low you go, there is still hope."

The hospitals of the Mon Health System have created the Mon Health Recovery Care Program. Grafton City Hospital, Mon Health Medical Center, Mon Health Preston Memorial and Mon Health Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital provide a variety of services, in collaboration with Valley Healthcare, including peer recovery programs, Overdose Survivors Outreach Program, Reverse Cycle Program, and a Comprehensive Opioid Addiction Treatment model.

To learn more about Mon Health, visit MonHealth.com.