PENN TWP — New programs and officials as well as a longstanding tradition of excellent service for those with addiction issues were highlighted Wednesday at the annual Ellen O'Brien Gaiser Center Community Luncheon.

Significant change has occurred at the Gaiser center on Old Plank Road since the last community luncheon in 2019, as last year's event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Held at the Butler Country Club, Wednesday's event introduced the center's supporters gathered in the large dining room to the center's new executive director, Joseph Mahoney.

Dr. C. Thomas Brophy, who was a consultant at the center in the past, spoke as the new full-time medical director at the center, which provides in-patient and out-patient treatment for addiction issues.

Brophy told those in attendance that he, like many successful center patients, is in recovery.

“It took a long time for me to be able to talk about that publicly,” Brophy said.

He explained how different sections of the brain can lead someone into, and eventually out of, addiction with the proper treatment.

Brophy said medical imaging and other tests can now determine whether a patient is addicted, making addiction a disease and not just a series of bad choices as some continue to consider those struggling with addiction.

“It's measurable,” Brophy said. “That's the definition of a disease.”

Brophy said medication-assisted treatment services will be ramped up at the center, including the use of methadone and suboxone, which he added have proven to be effective.

“I understand not everyone feels the same way about these substances, but you cannot ignore the research,” he said.

Brophy said success rates are 3% to 5% without using medication-assisted treatment and as high as 65% using the medications to assist in recovering from addiction.

“We are in a crisis and we need to stabilize that crisis, and medications work,” Brophy said.

He said when medications are combined with the services provided by the highly effective staff at the Gaiser, “the sky's the limit.”

Brophy said the Gaiser center, which is 50 years old this year, has led the way in addiction services for all of its five-decade life.

“We are all a work in progress and I am proud to be a work in progress with the Gaiser center,” he said.

The luncheon's other keynote speaker was Pat, who beat his severe alcohol addiction and accompanying life of crime to become the valedictorian of his class at Harvard.

When he entered the center in 1986, then called The Butler A Center, Ellen O'Brien Gaiser herself saw potential in him.

Pat extolled the center's continued connection with other recovery services throughout Butler County, including the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, which paid for his undergraduate degree.

“That is a debt I can never repay,” Pat said.

He cautioned those who believe such a taxpayer-funded expenditure is a waste of money.

“It was a good investment,” said Pat, who also graduated from the University of Pittsburgh magna cum laude.

In 2018, Pat suffered a relapse and re-entered the Gaiser center for treatment.

He was comforted to see a few familiar faces, and said his counselor, Ryan, called him intermittently after he recovered.

When asked to speak at Wednesday's luncheon, Pat said he would only do it if Ryan accompanied him.

Pat then pointed out his then-Gaiser center counselor, who received a rousing round of applause.

Pat asked those in attendance to resist looking down on those struggling with addiction.

“Just like Ellen Gaiser saw something in me, we can all step back and say, 'What would this person's life look like if they recovered?'” Pat said.