thedailytimes.com : Your 24/7 news source

A unique new program at Cornerstone of Recovery, a Blount County-based alcohol and drug dependency treatment center, now attracts transportation workers from all parts of North America.
With three facilities, 160 staff members and 80 beds, Cornerstone of Recovery has long been recognized for its medical detox offerings, adult and young adult residential programs, relapse recovery treatment and outpatient aftercare programs — but its impaired professionals program recently shifted into high gear.
Aimed at helping chemically dependent professionals, Cornerstone of Recovery has become the treatment center of choice for some of the nation’s largest transportation companies, including major airlines and railroad companies.
Although pilots, business executives, attorneys and doctors aren’t usually the first people who come to mind when thinking about drug addicts and alcoholics, Dan Caldwell, the CEO of Cornerstone, said drug and alcohol abuse has proliferated all walks of life.
“A few years ago, about 15 percent of our patients were addicted to prescription drugs,” Caldwell said. “Now that number is more than 40 percent.
“We’re dealing with some high-profile individuals — people who are authority figures and are accustomed to being in control. They’re not always the easiest people to treat.
“But with transportation industries like airlines and railroads, it becomes quite safety sensitive.”
Currently, Cornerstone of Recovery works with five railroad companies across the United States and Canada. Airlines including United, American, Northwest, Continental and USAirways are also looking to Cornerstone as a treatment facility for employees.
Aviation professionals
Sally Lukas, a 37-year employee of Northwest Airlines, joined the Cornerstone staff on July 16 as the new director of the aviation professionals program. She is also an alumni of the Cornerstone treatment program.
“I wanted to see to it that airline employees after me would not have to go through what I did to get treatment,” Lukas said.
“Pilots have a treatment program mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration, but flight attendants did not.
“While employed by Northwest Airlines, I worked with the airline and the unions to design and implement a program specifically for flight attendants.
“I just wanted to make it easier for flight attendants to get help.”
Lukas said drug and alcohol abuse is common for pilots and flight attendants because of the nature of their work, and treating those who are accustomed to serving others can be challenging.
“These people aren’t used to looking at themselves,” Lukas said. “They’re used to being responsible for and taking care of others.
“Part of the problem with the profession is that it isn’t supervised. You spend hours in hotel rooms, you come and go as you please, and — much of the time — you’re hundreds or thousands of miles from home where you think no one knows what you’re doing.
“The nature of travel today is very stressful in itself. It’s easy to get into trouble.”
Trouble in paradise
For six years, Paul Brandt was a flight attendant based out of Minneapolis and New York. In December 2004, he traded international flights and nights in exotic countries for a stint in rehab at Cornerstone of Recovery.
“Everyone thinks it’s a glamorous life,” Brandt said, “but behind the scenes it’s nothing like that.
“I was regularly in towns like Amsterdam where there is easy access to drugs, and alcohol is always available on the aircraft.
“I was a functional alcoholic for about 13 years before I became a flight attendant — but after I became a flight attendant, it escalated quickly.”
After going through outpatient programs that didn’t work for him, Brandt requested inpatient treatment.
“When you’re traveling all the time, it’s hard to do outpatient treatment,” Brandt said. “Once I got to Cornerstone, they forced me to look at why I was drinking.
“I had to deal with skeletons in my closet and issues from my past. I had to get serious about things if I wanted to make a change for the better.”
After successfully working through the inpatient program at Cornerstone, Brandt worked through the outpatient program and eventually spent 10 months in Cornerstone’s support living housing. In 2006, he quit the airline and became a full-time counselor at Cornerstone of Recovery.
So far, more than 40 flight attendants from a variety of airlines have been through the treatment program at Cornerstone of Recovery.
Founding father
Cornerstone of Recovery attributes its success to a focus on treatment rather than finances. When J. William “Bill” Hood founded Cornerstone in 1989, he was pursuing a heartfelt need to help those in the throes of chemical dependency, and spoke out regularly on related issues that impact the entire community.
Hood was at the top of his career in 1974. After 27 years with ALCOA, he had worked his way up from production engineer to the company’s executive management team. From his office at the company’s Pittsburgh headquarters, and then to its Cleveland operations, he managed profits and losses of $100 million and was involved with starting new manufacturing plants throughout the world. The whole time, according to friends and colleagues, Hood was a “raging alcoholic.”
After getting help for his addiction, and retiring from ALCOA at the age of 65, Hood decided he still had something he wanted to do. He started Cornerstone of Recovery.
After his death in 1993, Cornerstone executives were surprised to learn that Hood had mortgaged his own home and spent his retirement savings to keep Cornerstone going.
“Hood created a mission for Cornerstone that drives our business model,” Caldwell said. “Our counselors and staff never even know if a patient has insurance or not.
“We want the staff prescribing treatment based on need, not insurance coverage.
“And it’s worked for us. Cornerstone has grown about 10 percent every year since we opened — and not a penny of it comes from tax money. It’s all privately funded or covered under insurance.”
Cornerstone operates facilities throughout Blount County, including its three main facilities at 1214 Topside Road, 1120 Topside Road and in the former Clayton Homes facility at 4726 Airport Highway.