PENN TWP — The president of the Ellen O'Brien Gaiser Center's board extolled the hard work and accomplishments of the center's former executive director, Linda Franiewski, during the annual center's Community Luncheon Wednesday.

Tammy Schuey, board of directors president, said when Franiewski started in 2005, the center had one building on Old Plank Road.

When she left earlier this year, the Gaiser Center boasted three buildings on the Old Plank Road campus plus an outpatient center on Liberty Street in Butler.

Schuey said Franiewski recognized the need to separate in-patient clients by gender, and created the Women's Center.

“And wow, what a difference it has made in treatment,” she said.

Schuey said Franiewski managed to keep the center operating during the pandemic through innovation and attention to client needs.

“Our mission has always been the clients, so keeping the clients and staff safe during COVID took a lot of work,” Schuey said.

She said Franiewski, a former banker, also achieved financial stability for the center during her years of service.

Schuey said finding a new executive director was a tall order, given the necessity for Zoom interviews and difficulty finding a professional as talented and driven as Franiewski.

But she is certain the board found the right candidate in Joseph Mahoney, who most recently served as director of mental health at a regional intermediate unit.

“We really do believe everyone can recover from this disease. I really believe that in my heart,” Schuey said. “We save lives day in and day out.”

After the luncheon, Tom Gaiser, who has attended every annual community luncheon in honor of his mother, said she started as a secretary at The Butler A Center as a woman with addiction issues.

He believes his mother, who died in October 2011 and had the center named for her shortly thereafter, would approve of the center's success over the years and its new medical director and executive director.

“I think she would be satisfied with it,” Gaiser said.

Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe said from a law enforcement standpoint, the Gaiser center is very important to the community.

“The staff and medical professionals are second to none in guiding their patients down a path to success,” Slupe said. “Those with success stories do not become repeat customers (in the law enforcement and court systems).”

Mahoney said the center is moving toward medication-assisted treatment not only because it works, but also because insurance companies are now beginning to fund it.

He said the full-time presence of Dr. C. Thomas Brophy, the new medical director of the center, plus a full-time on-site nurse and a part-time nurse, will allow the medication-assisted treatment program to be carried out effectively and ethically.

“It offers patients another pathway to recovery,” Mahoney said. “It's another option for them to explore.”

Franiewski said she had to fly by the seat of her pants during the pandemic, when virtual counseling sessions, a reduction in in-patient beds, retaining frightened staff members and weekly COVID-19 meetings became necessary.

But Franiewski knew she had to keep the center going.

“Our clients will die if they are not attended to,” she said.

She said through the pandemic and over the course of 50 years, the Ellen O'Brien Gaiser Center has had one focus, which she is confident will continue into the future.

“We've always kept our clients first,” Franiewski said.